CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Cornell University Library BV1085.M88 A3 My life with young men, fl ty years in t olln 3 1924 029 336 686 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029336686 RICHARD C.AVORSE MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Fifty Years in the Young Men's Christian Association RICHARD G. MORSE Consulting General Secretary of the International Committee of Young Men's Christian Associations ASSOCIATION PRESS New York: 124 East 28th Street 1918 Copyright, 1918, bv The Interkational Committee OF Young Men's Christian Associations To MY WIFE In Acknowledgment of Her Invaluable Sympathy and Cooperation, THIS Volume is Gratefully Dedicated. FOREWORD This work is the autobiography of the greatest leader in the life of the American Young Men's Christian Association greatest in that true sense in which Christ defined greatness — when He said that he who would be greatest among you shall be the servant of all. What leader has for so many years served so many men of so many lands ? Here we also have given in epitome all that is most signifi- cant in the history of the Young Men's Christian Association. What movement has been so fortunate as to have as its his- torian one whose life has spanned the more than three score years and ten of its history, and who has himself been an influ- ential factor in nearly every page of the history which he has narrated with such fidelity and judicial quality? Furthermore, these pages afford an interesting background of the religious life of the last two generations. This period has been characterized among other things by the wonderful development and organization of the lay forces of the Church, by the larger and more scientific application of the social principles of Jesus Christ to the life, the work and the relation- ships of men, by the drawing together in closer fellowship and cooperation of the various Christian communions, and by the world-wide expansion of the Christian religion. The author of this book has helped to guide the Association with such prophetic spirit and wisdom that it has had a large part in facilitating the achievement of these notable results. Great and numerous in other directions as have been the services of Richard C. Morse to the nations and the churches, his distinctive mission has been that of the leadership of the Young Men's Christian Association for more than half a cen- tury. What does this organization not owe to the fact that it has had the undivided and unwearied attention and energies of a man of such distinguished heredity, of one who has had the advantages of the finest education and culture of his time, of one possessing such personal charm and rare capacity for friendship, of one whose life abounds with unselfishness vii tiii POEEWORD and who has shown a genius for self-effacement and for dis- covering and developing men and enlarging their opportunity ! He has ever been responsive to new visions and widening plans. He has preserved to the present day the spirit of the young man. He is as keenly alert and as enthusiastic at a football game as any undergraduate. He exemplifies the aphorism that a great teacher must never cease to be a learner. Of him could it be said with aptness, in the language of the Hebrew writer, "He shall be full of sap, he shall bring forth fruit in old age." He had no predecessor in the Movement which he so served and honored ; and, in a very real sense, he can have no successor. John E. Mott. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE FoBEWOKD, John R. Mott vii Preface xiii I. Heredity 1 Jedediah Morse, 1761-1826 II. Childhood and School Life 18 Childhood, 1841-1853— School Life, 1853-1855— Andover, 1855-1858 III. College Life at Yale, 1858-1862 31 Beginning of the Civil War — Athletic and Other Interests — Members of the Class of 1862 IV. A Period of Vocational Preparation 47 A Study in Biography — ^An Experience as a Teacher — ^Theo- logical Studies — A Beginning in Journalism V. Beginning of Connection with the Young Men's Christian Association 56 Continued Relations with The New York Observer — Period of Editorship of the Association Monthly, Dec. 1, 1869-Dec. 1, 1871. VI. On the Path to the General Secretaryship ... 85 First Tour as a Tisiting Secretary, Dec, 1871-May, 1872 — The Lowell Convention — Tour in Europe — World's Confer- ence, 1872 — Consideration and Acceptance of General Secre- taryship VII. The Beginning of the General Secretaryship . . 109 First Year as General Secretary, 1872-73 — Second Year as General Secretary, 1873-74 VIII. Conferences and Conventions Near and Far . . 137 Third Year as General Secretary, 1874-75 — Fourth Year as General Secretary, 1875-76 IX. Five Years of Varied Development 161 Fifth and Sixth Years of the General Secretaryship, 1876-78 — Seventh and Eighth Years of the General Secretaryship, 1878-80— Ninth Year of the General Secretaryship, 1880-81 X. Entering the Second Decade 186 Tenth and Eleventh Years of the General Secretaryship, 1881-83 — The Annual Meeting of the International Com- mittee and Its Secretaries — Marriage — Conventions of 1885 and 1887 — Growth of Financial Support of the Committee's Work ix CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE XI. Features of Growth and Cooperation 211 Growing Allegiance to the Churches — Convention Topics and Discussions of the Period 1871-1900— World's Confer- ences of 1881 and 1884— The Topic Party— Connection with the Young Women's Christian Association, 1879-1883 XII. World's Committee and Conferences 233 World's Committee Meeting of 1886— World's Conference of 1888 at Stockholm— The Jubilee World's Conference at London, 1894 XIII. Local Association Work 251 Connection with New York City Association — Connection with Local Work in Other Cities — Secretarial Training — Specialization on the Four Features of the Fourfold Work XIV. The Problem of the Chairmanship 274 Resignation of Cephas Brainerd and the Election of His Suc- cessor — ^A Trip to Palestine and the Near East — A Fitting Tribute to the Retiring Chairman — Term of Elbert B. Monroe as Chairman, 1892-94 — The Problem of the Chairmanship Solved — A Surprising Episode XV. Two Important Conversations 300 With John R. Mott— With Robert R. McBurney XVI. The Eventful Year of 1898 309 Army and Navy Work — Two World Conferences in Europe — The General Secretary's Private Office and Home, 1884- 1898 — McBurney's Sickness and Death — The Tower Room XVII. Student Work — Local and Intercollegiate. . . . 329 Interest in Student Work at Yale — Relation to Intercol- legiate Work — Beginnings of the Summer Conferences XVIII. The Outreach to Other Lands 362 The Student Volunteer Movement — Official Estabhshment, Definition, and Early Progress of Foreign Association Work — The World's Student Christian Federation — A World Power XIX. Connection with Railroad and Other Forms OF Association Work 390 The Railroad Work, Local and International — The Indus- trial Department — Work among Colored Young Men — North American Indian Young Men — ^Boys' Work — County and Rural Work — Community Association Work — ^The Women's Auxiliary XX. An Era of Remarkable Progress 418 A Permanent Fund for the International Committee — First Tour around the World, December, 1902-June, 1903 — Progress of Local and International Work — Two Associate General Secretaries— Progress of the Foreign Work — North American Jubilee of 1901 at Montreal and Boston CONTENTS xi CHAPTER PAGE XXI. Continued Twentieth Century Progress 441 A Decade of Remarkable Process — North American Jubilee of 1904 at Buffalo — International Committee's Building — International Conventions of 1907, 1910, and 1913 — Fortieth Year Anniversary XXII. A Second World Journey 464 New York to China — In Japan a Second Time — China Centenary Conference — ^Westward from Shanghai to London — A Summary Review XXIII. Summer Schools and Periodicals 483 The Summer Conferences and Schools — Periodicals of the North American Associations XXIV. National and International Relationships .... 495 The Forming of a Canadian National Organization — World Conferences and Conventions XXV. First Period of Chairman Marling's Adminis- tration, 1911-1915 506 Changes Following the Withdrawal of C. J. Hicks — ^The Macfarland Commission — The Cincinnati Convention — The Fry Commission — John R. Mott Becomes General Secretary PREFACE Very frequently, for more than twenty years, at the close of some private interview or after giving an address, I have been approached by younger Association friends — laymen and Secretaries — with the following statement, more or less ur- gently expressed: "What you have said to us in the way of reminiscence ought to be preserved in more permanent form. You are the only source from which now we younger men can secure the important facts you have recounted." Finally, some five years ago, the International Committee asked me to set apart time to write a book of reminiscences concerning my connection with the work and the workers of the Associations. While I continued in the oflSce of International General Secre- tary, until August, 1915, time and opportunity were more limited than they have been since that date. It was, however, chiefly owing to the sympathy and generous urgent coopera- tion of Mrs. Morse that I was able to undertake, and before her recent death virtually to complete, the present volume. Labor upon it since that sorrowful event has been pleasantly associated with the memory of her sympathy and the growing interest she manifested in our undertaking. At first the narra- tive was begun at the period when, at the age of twenty-six, I became connected with the Association. Soon, however, I was urgently asked to give some account of myself before as well as during contact with the life of this Association move- ment. Compliance with this request has increased the size of the volume. By many readers this will be regretted, but care has been taken to point out in a somewhat full index where every topic or person is mentioned. Thus an easily followed clue is given to any reader seeking what the volume contains of the information that may be desired. For the title of the book and for what is excellent in its manufacture and presentation to the community of readers, they are with me indebted to my friend and fellow-secretary, Frederick M. Harris, of Association Press, and to Mrs. Fred XIV PREFACE M. Gilbert, also of Association Press, who as critic and more than proof reader has rendered important service to both author and reader. To Dr. John R. Mott, Charles K. Ober, and other associates I am indebted for valuable counsel and cooperation, and can only hope that what I have attempted in this narrative in response to their encouragement may meet their expectations more satisfactorily than the author is con- scious of accomplishing his own purpose in the story he has attempted to tell. CHAPTER I HEREDITY The name of Morse is readily traced to the time of Edward III of England. It is variously written Mors, Moss, Morss and Morse. During the last five hundred years the family coat-of-arms has borne the motto. In Deo, non armis, fido: "In God, not arms, I trust." Anthony Morse was born at Marlborough, Wiltshire, Eng- land, May 9, 1606, came to New England in 1635, and settled in Newbury, Massachusetts, about half a mile south of the most ancient cemetery in the old town. The house in which he dwelt was on a slight eminence in a field known for more than two centuries as "the Morse field." He was a man of courage, enterprise, and integrity of character. His ison, Anthony, succeeded to the homestead, and died February 25, 1677 or '78. Peter Morse, son of the second Anthony, removed about 1698 to New Roxbury, then located within Massachusetts, but later known as Woodstock, Connecticut. He died there November 2, 1721. John, the oldest son of Peter, resided in the same place and was married to Sarah Peak, who lived within a month of a hundred years. At the time of her death her descendants of three generations already numbered three hundred and five. "Their tenth and last child was Jonathan, who — it is not strange to say — died at the age of three years and four months, having read the Bible through twice, committed many passages to memory, and conducted family worship, for which he must have been eminently qualified !" According to a table of longevity in his family, compiled by one of my uncles at the age of eighty-one, twelve of his immediate ancestors to the fourth generation attained advanced age, the oldest dying at ninety-nine and the youngest at eighty-one. Jedediah was the oldest son of John and Sarah Morse. He 1 2 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN was bom July 8, 1726, in New Eoxbury. In the year 1749 the town passed from the jurisdiction of Massachusetts to that of Connecticut, and received its present name of Woodstock. Here Jedediah Morse, with seventy-three others, took the oath of allegiance to Connecticut at the first freeman's meeting. He was reputed to be physically the strongest man in Wind- ham County. An upright and able ndagistrate, for eighteen years he was one of the selectmen of the town, twenty-seven years town clerk and treasurer, fifteen years a member of the Colonial and State Legislature and an honored and useful member and the officer of the Church. He died December 29, 1819, at the age of ninety-four. It was said of him that "Dea- con Morse during his lifetime held all the offices in the Church and State which the town had to bestow !" My father when a boy visited this grandfather in his old age, at the hoibestead in Woodstock, early in the first decade of the nineteenth century. One incident of the visit so deeply impressed the boy that in after life he often referred to it. One day two farmers in their contention came to Deacon Morse as Justice of the Peace. He led them into the sitting room, opened the family Bible, and judged the case by reference to the Mosaic law as given in the Pentateuch. Jedediah Morse, 1761-1826 Jedediah Morse, D.D., my grandfather, was the eighth child of Jedediah Morse and was born in Woodstock, August 23, 1761. He graduated at Yale College in the class of 1783, where he was followed by his three sons, five grandsons, ten great grandsons, and one great great grandson, who, as the first one of the fourth generation, graduated in the class of 1913. The college boy's carefully kept account book (1779-1783) survived him and testifies that exclusive of clothing and books his expenses for the four years amounted to less than five hundred dollars. In the many allusions to my grandfather which I have read, emphasis is always laid upon his gentle- manly bearing and demeanor. Professor Benjamin Silliman the elder says of him: "He was a dignified and polished old- school gentleman and a gentleman everywhere." The daughter of one of his clerical friends. Miss Lucy Osgood, in her old age writes of him : "My remembrance of him goes back to my HEREDITY 3 earliest years. He was one whom, even when a child, I always loved to see. I look back upon him as a perfect gentleman of peculiarly attractive manners, which were greatly aided by a low sweet voice, yet of great compass and whenever he sang capable of filling the largest churches with its melody. His tall, slender form, extremely neat dress, mild manners, and persua- sive tones, aided by the charm of perfect good breeding which inspires respect for the true gentleman, made him in all places a most acceptable guest, while his own house was always celebrated as the very home of hospitality." These impressions lend interest to the fact recorded by one of his sons that among the books purchased by him while in college, the one volume which cost him most — more than his Latin or Greek lexicon or Horace Delphini — was a copy of Lord Chesterfield's letters on politeness, price one pound sterl- ing, five shillings and sixpence — a singular purchase by a boy from the farm. From the study of this book, with all its faults, he derived great benefit. Many years later, a Boston publisher at his suggestion published an abridged edition. The task of revision fell to the proposer of the project and the volume was amusingly advertised : "Chesterfield on Politeness, Improved by Dr. Morse." Almost a half century afterward, an eminent minister in New York City, Dr. James W. Alexan- der, told my father that the perusal of this improved edition had been of much service to him and he suggested a republica- tion of it. While studying for the ministry (1783-5) he also engaged in teaching in New Haven, and, in the absence of any text book on American geography, prepared and published in 1783 in that city a duodecimo volume of two hundred and fourteen pages on the subject. This was followed later by much larger volumes of geography, which gave such new and abundant information about his country, that their author was given the title of "The Father of American Geography." The elder Professor Silliman — of the class of 1796, tutor and then pro- fessor at Yale from 1799 to 1853 — writes of Morse's Geogra- phy: "It was a classic. I recited it as a pupil, and in after years taught it as a tutor. It was esteemed very valuable." In Europe it gave wide repute to its author. The earlier editions were reprinted in London and on the continent were 4 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN translated and circulated. They promoted a knowledge con- cerning America which, in turn, stimulated valuable emigra- tion to the new republic. Its circulation brought to its author a European correspondence of unusual quality and dimen- sions. It was an octavo volume of 543 pages, seven eighths of which was devoted to the United States. This large volume was prepared by its youthful author during what is now called "the critical period of American History"— 1783-89— when the thirteen feeble states were slowly and painfully but wisely coming to the conclusion to form a federal union. A providen- tial call to a brief pulpit supply in Georgia gave him the oppor- tunity — very rare at that time for one in his circumstances — of slow travel through most of these thirteen states. At Mt. Vernon, his errand enlisted the powerful sympathy of George Washington, soon to be chosen unanimously as first President of the new Republic. From him the young man received a valued copy of "the most accurate map of the United States which had yet been made" and other welcome tokens of appre- ciation of the work he was undertaking. He also enlisted or received volunteered cooperation from David Ramsay, the historian. Governor Livingston of New Jersey, Postmaster General Hazard, Geographer General Hutchins and other able helpers. Among these in connection with his copyright and as his attorney was James Kent — afterward Chancellor of New York. Alexander Hamilton also generously volunteered his cooperation as a source of "real pleasure" to himself! After the publication of this volume, which gave him na- tional repute and wide consideration abroad, he began a pas- torate of thirty years, in charge of the First Church and Parish, of Oharlestown, Massachusetts, on April 30, 1789, the day on which Washington was inaugurated at New York as first President of the United States. His pastorate covered a period of serious theological controversy issuing in a Uni- tarian control of Harvard College and of most of the churches of Boston. As a Trinitarian belonging to the conservative school of "moderate Calvinists" so-called, he earnestly, with all the energy of his faith and faculties, opposed this change. He was the leader of the minority opposition in the Board of Overseers of Harvard College, being a member of that body HEREDITY 6 ex officio, as pastor of the First Church of Charlestown. In the heat of this controversy he published "The True Reasons" why this opposition had been made. Of this pamphlet he testified ten years later : "It has been considered, by one class of people, 'my unpardonable offense,' and by another as, 'the best thing I ever did.' One of the former party said at its publication, it was so bad a thing that it more than counter- balanced all the good I had done and should do; and one of the other party said, if I had never done any good before, nor should do any afterward, that single deed would produce effects of sufflcient utility to mankind to be worth living for." But while he was a conservative, he was not an extremist. As a wise leader he sought to unite whatever differing elements existed in his own conservative brotherhood. With Dr. Elipha- let Pearson, who had withdrawn from his professorship at Harvard, and with one group of friends of a projected new school at Andover, and with another group having in mind a school at Newbury, he succeeded in uniting friends of somewhat differing views, but equally evangelical and Trinitarian, in the establishment of Andover Theological Seminary, to the in- auguration of which his sympathetic and life-long friend. Presi- dent Timothy Dwight, of Yale College, came to preach the sermon. He was equally influential in bringing together his fellow Congregational clergymen of conservative views, in the Gen- eral Association of Massachusetts. He was a leader in the group of clergy and laity who organized Park Street Church in Boston, as a conservative stronghold. In the same interest he conceived, published, and for ten years edited The Panoplist as a periodical devoted to keeping together and promoting the fellowship of the evangelical churches. He was succeeded by Jeremiah Evarts, who still further extended its influence and usefulness. Later, in 1816, he enlisted his son, Sidney Edwards Morse, as editor of the first of the weekly religious papers. The Boston Recorder, continued to the present time under the name of The Congregationalist, but whose continuance during its first experimental year was wholly due to the energy and practical support of the editor's father. These editorial and other publications promoted a corre- spondence with Wilberforce, Zachary Macaulay — the father 6 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN of Lord Macaulay— George Burder, founder in England of the Religious Tract Society, and with other evangelical leaders m Great Britain, who were in strong sympathy with his con- servative and progressive attitude and his strenuous activity. His correspondence and personal sympathies and friendships also brought him into fellowship with brother clergymen of other churches— Drs. John Rodgers, of New York, John Romeyn, of Albany, Ashbel Green, of Princeton, John Wither- spoon, President of Princeton College, and others. Of Dr. Witherspoon he writes the following interesting inci- dent : "With that great and good man I was well acquainted. He paid us his last visit when my eldest son was an infant a few days old.i The visit will never be forgotten by us, for deeply affected in this interview with the mother — who was the granddaughter of Dr. Samuel Finley, his revered predecessor in office at Princeton, whose name had been given to the child — he took her infant son into his arms and, after the manner of the ancient patriarchs, with great solemnity gave him his blessing." In benevolent and Christian progressive endeavors, on both the home and foreign field, Dr. Morse was ceaselessly active. The first Foreign Missionary Society founded in the United States — The American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions — has been called "one of the fruits of Andover Theo- logical Seminary," only because it was formed in response to a memorial addressed to the General Association of Massa- chusetts by the four students of that seminary, who have first claim as originators and founders of the movement, and who desired to spend their lives in preaching the Gospel to the heathen. Of the eight members of the Board, Dr. Morse was one of the four from Massachusetts. He was one of the two petitioners to whom the legislature of that state granted the act of incorporation. He was a member of the Prudential Com- mittee from 1815-21. His eldest son. Professor Samuel F. B. Morse, the inventor, writes of him : "The most prominent trait of my father's character, in- delibly inscribed on my memory, is his charity — charity in the > Samuel Finley Breese Morse, afterward known as the inventor of the electro-magnetic HEREDITY 7 New Testament sense — the great master principle of Chris- tianity. As fruit and evidence of this was his untiring inven- tion of enlarged plans for benefiting his fellowmen. This was shown in his nursing of the infant Tract Society, when the first tract depository in the country was a small room par- titioned ofE from his stable. Towards the African race it was shown when he planned with the intelligent colored sea cap- tain, Paul Oufifee, the first colonization scheme to Christianize Africa with emancipated Christian negroes. It was shown equally in his zealous cooperation with the first planners of the American Bible Society, the Andover Theological Semi- nary, and the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. In the last years of his life this ruling passion exerted itself in labors among the American Indians. Hospitality was the sign of my father's house, not for the wealthy and distinguished alone, but for the poor and unpre- tending. Talleyrand when an exile was cordially entertained, but not more so than were some of his poorer clerical brethren. I remember well the tears of gratitude of a Frenchman to whom he had given a small sum, with letters that had procured for him a position as a teacher. *I wanted sympathy,' he said, 'more than money, but you gave both.' " His youngest son, my father, writes of him : "Nothing affords me more pleasure than recalling the traits of one so venerated by his children as was my father. His industry was a prominent characteristic. Throughout his whole life he had no idle moments. His rest consisted in change of laborious occupation. He always traveled with notebook in hand. Once in the boat on the Erie Canal, with a delightful party on board, among whom was DeWitt Clinton, he allowed himself to be detained from this pleasant company an hour or more in the cabin, to get some information from a passenger, who at length emerging on deck was thus accosted by Mr. Clinton, 'Now, friend, you are like an exhausted re- ceiver. Dr. Morse has pumped you dry.' I vividly call him to mind, now gathering materials for his Geography and superintending its publication, now writing his sermon for the Sabbath, or letters to his correspondents in our own and foreign lands, now hurrying to the Convention, the Association, or other public meeting, now visiting the sick and bereaved, and now hospitably entertaining his friends; for, as Daniel Webster said of him, 'He was always thinking, always writing, always talking, always acting.' To his children he would say, when the day was fair, 'Now, boys, is the time for study, for all is bright and cheerful.' And when the sky was lowering the word still was, 'Study, boys, to drive away discontent.' But he had no need to speak to us, 8 MT LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN If we were disposed to be idle, his own example of industry was incentive enough. Even in his journeys, recreation was sacrificed to business. His physician, referring to his habit of rapid traveling, said, 'He first wore out his mind m his study at home, and then jumped into the stage-coach, and rode day and night till his body was exhausted. When an equi- librium was thus produced, he pronounced himself well.' When persuaded that he was in the way of duty, he was fear- less of consequences and was sometimes insulted by rude men. Once as he was going to cast his vote at an election, when party politics ran high and the propriety of a clergyman's voting was questioned, a coarse fellow, soliciting votes for the other side, used offensive language, and doubling his fist threatened to thrust him from the polls, adding, 'Only your cloth protects you.' Looking his antagonist calmly in the eye, he said, 'My friend, you are mistaken, my cloth protects you.' I always associate with my father the ideas of indomitable energy and irrepressible buoyancy. While others doubted and were desponding, his motto ever was. Nil desperandum. Chief Justice Parsons, referring to the futile attempts of his politi- cal opponents to destroy his influence, said of him, 'He is like the camomile bed, the more it is trod upon the more it grows.' Though much engaged in controversy, his temper was not pugnacious, but his conscience compelled him to the main- tenance of what he regarded as vital truth. He was provi- dentially placed in a prominent position, at a time when a revolution took place in the theological world around him. He stood in the breach and upon him fell blows which might have been justly shared by others. He would sometimes say pleasantly of those who opposed him, that they unwittingly complimented him by ascribing to him alone 'The Panoplist, the General Association, the Andover Theological Seminary, Park Street Church in Boston, and whatever like mischiefs occurred.' Dr. Joseph Lyman, a leading clergyman in the western part of the state, when visiting him in Charlestown, used to say, 'It matters not what I do here. Dr. Morse will bear the blame.' Two persons more unlike than my parents in their tem- peraments, and yet more affectionately united in their lives could hardly be found. He was sanguine, easily imposed on, prompt to engage in whatever scheme approved itself worthy, ignoring difficulty and danger. But her caution and cooler judgment served as a balance wheel to his impulsive nature, and lessened the evils into which such a nature betrayed him. She sometimes complained to her friends that, but for her restraint, he would beggar himself to bestow charities on others. Yet, under the provocation of injuries, her patience and forbearance gave way sooner than his. Says a member HEREDITY 9 of his parish, 'Hearing of a painful interview, I called on him to learn the particulars and relieve my anxiety. The Doctor related the facts in his usual calm, mild manner, but Mrs. Morse, who sat by, less disposed than her husband to hide her displeasure at the unworthy treatment he had received, expressed warm indignation, and when he gently placed his hand on her shoulder and said, "You know, my dear, we must cast the mantle of charity over the faults of others," she re- plied, with no abatement of her earnestness, "Mr. Morse, charity is not a fool." ' He was ever ready to use his money and influence for the good of others. The poor found in him an active friend, and I could mention instances where he suffered loss himself rather than have it fall on those who were less able to bear it. One who had infringed upon the copyright of his Geog- raphy found him in the hour of need a friend and a benefactor. His acquaintance with distinguished men abroad caused him to be applied to often by persons going to Europe for letters of introduction, and the thanks sent him in return show how important these letters were to the bearers, and the high estimation in which he was held by such men as Dr. Erskine, Wilberforce, and others. A letter to Talleyrand, then high in power, who had once been a guest at our house, procured for the bearer very courteous reception and timely aid. He was a sweet singer. His study windows overlooked the Charles Eiver, and often of a quiet Sunday morning, as the chime of bells in the tower of Christ Church, Boston, floated the tune of 'Old Portugal' over the water, I have heard him catch the inspiration, take up the notes, and shout aloud: 'Oh, could I soar to worlds above. The blest abode of peace and love.' He always sang in the pulpit and his rich silver voice could be heard above all others. Once when the choir took offense at some stricture made upon them, and absented themselves from their seats for several Sabbaths, he took the whole sing- ing upon himself till they returned to their duty. His whole life was evidence of the sincerity of his love to God his Saviour, and to his fellowmen, in whose service he wore himself out. He fought a good fight and kept the faith. He lives revered in the memory of his children, leaving an instructive example to them and their descendants." The first band of American missionaries went out to the foreign field in 1812, and consisted of Adoniram Judson, Samuel Newell, Samuel Nott and their wives, Gordon Hall, and Luther Bice, At the prdination service in the Tabernacle 10 ICY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Church at Salem, Dr. Morse oflfered the prayer of consecration, his hands resting in benediction in this solemn act upon the head of Adoniram Judson. An interesting picture of this ceremony is preserved among the archives of the American Board. The war existing at this time (1812) between Britain and the United States caused the East India Company to suspect that this American missionary enterprise was a political plot concealed under the guise of religion. Dr. Morse therefore wrote Wilber- force in 1814, asking his influential aid in removing such an unjust prejudice. This resulted in the Directors of the com- pany "authorizing the Governor of Bombay, Sir Evan Nepean, to allow the American missionaries to remain in India."^ In home missionary work, as secretary of "The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Among the Indians," he began, among other activities, to publish and distribute tracts. This led to his securing the cooperation of members of his own church. A room in his own barn in 1802 was probably the first Keligious Tract Depository on this continent. Thousands of tracts he distributed as welcome helps to home missionaries and other Christian workers, in over two hundred towns in the district of Maine, which was then a part of Massachusetts, and in Kentucky and Tennessee. This led to his taking a lead- ing part in the formation of, first the New England, and later the American Tract Society. He was equally prominent in the organization of Bible Societies, not only in New England, but in Georgia and South Carolina. In 1816, when delegates from various Bible Societies which had been formed in different parts of the country met in New York City and formed the American Bible Society, he was a delegate from Massachusetts and served on the com- mittee to draft the Constitution. Of the action taken he wrote : "A unanimity in this mixed body of all denominations of Chris- tians, so unexpected, had a surprising effect and drew tears of joy from many eyes. It has been one of the most interesting and happy meetings that I had ever attended." A few years later— May 2, 1821— at the anniversary of this Society in the City Hotel of New York, he delivered an address which deeply impressed a young man present — Samuel Hanson Cox. Thirty years afterward this young man at the beginning of an- 2"Life of JedediahMorse," p. 64. HEREDITY 11 other interdenominational organization — The Evangelical Al- liance — recalled and repeated the following words of Dr. Morse : "This is one of the signs of the times, one of the wonders of Providence. But all we now see is less the end than the begin- ning. It will be wonder following wonder until wonders be- come the order of the day, the steady and established method of Providence. New resources will be opened. New truth will be learned — new only to us, though old itself as its Eternal Author!" Dr. Morse died at the age of sixty-five of "old age," never strong physically, yet so ceaselessly active that the body could no longer endure the strain of over-exertion to which it was subjected. The Sons of Dr. Morse Three sons of Dr. Morse survived him, with their mother, Elizabeth Ann Breeze Morse. The mother was the only child of her mother, who in turn was the only child of Dr. Samuel Finley, President of Princeton College. So that among these sons and their children are to be found all the lineal descend- ants of Dr. Finley. The three sons lived to an advanced age — beyond three score and ten. They followed their father as students at Yale College, graduating in the classes of 1810, 1811, and 1812. The eldest, Samuel Finley Breeze Morse, became an artist of distinction as one of the founders, and for fifteen years a President, of the National Academy of Design, in New York City. But he is far more widely and deservedly known as the inventor of the electro-magnetic telegraph.^ The second son, Sidney Edwards Morse, after graduating at Yale in 1811, continued his studies at Andover Seminary, and at the Law School in Litchfield, Connecticut. He entered actively into some of the tasks of his father, by whom he was induced to edit The Boston Recorder during its first year, 1816. He had become more closely occupied, however, beginning in the year 1814, with a thorough and masterly reediting of the valuable geographical works and material collected by Dr. Morse. Later he prepared those editions of "Morse's School ' His latest Biography, by hie son, Edward Lind Morse, published in 1914, contains the fullest and best account of his life. 12 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Geography," which continued in very general use beyond the middle of the nineteenth century and as long as the son could continue to edit them. As a part of this undertaking, he in- vented a mode of engraving adapted to the production of plates for printing maps, in connection with type, by the common printing-press. He applied this new art, which he named cerog- raphy, to the illustration of a School Geography, published in 1844. The cheapness of its manufacture by the new process and its great value, gave the book at once an immense circula- tion — over 100,000 copies during its first year — a rate which was maintained for many years and which could have been increased had he been able to continue to edit later editions. But the principal energy of his life was to be successfully given to another undertaking, intimately connected with what was central and dominating in the life work of his father. In this enterprise of a new journalism his younger brother, Eichard Gary Morse, was closely and at first indispensably associated. Indeed, it was only owing to the persistent impor- tunity of the younger brother that Sidney Morse was led to give his essential leadership and rare editorial ability to what was in 1823 a novel undertaking. This youngest son of Dr. Morse was my father, whose name I have the honor of bearing. The call extended to my grand- father by the church in Gharlestown in 1789 was signed by Richard Gary, as chairman of the Ghurch Gommittee and lead- ing member of the parish. In his home the new pastor resided before a parsonage was provided for him. Within a year Eichard Gary was suddenly removed by death. First on the list of Dr. Morse's sermons in print is "A Sermon on the Death of Richard Gary, Esq., preached Lord's Day, February 28th, 1790." Five years afterward, when their third son was born, the pastor and his wife gave him the name of their honored friend, the layman leader in the work of the church, whose memory they affectionately cherished. My father followed his two older brothers at Phillips Academy, Andover, an institution of which Dr. Morse was one of the trustees. At the age of eleven he successfully passed the examination to enter Yale. His father wisely postponed for two years his entering college, so he joined the class of 1812 and graduated, its youngest member, at the age of seven- HEREDITY 13 teen. His name is on the roll of "The Moral Society,"* a secret student fraternity, the members of which accomplished an excellent religious work among their fellow students, bring- ing strong reenforcement to the preaching and influence of President Dwight. The work of this society had been one of the influences producing the revival at Yale in 1802. It was equally influential in the revival of 1808, the year preceding my father's entering college. The first name on the roll of class deacons at Yale is that of Ward Stafford,^ my father's roommate during his four years at college. Of him I find the following account, given by one of my father's brothers and written many years after they had been in college together: "Ward Stafford was a New Hampshire farmer's boy at Phillips Academy, Andover, in training there to become a country school-master. My younger brother, Eichard, was then at the Academy preparing for col- lege. Rooming with Stafford, and appreciating his talents and Christian spirit, he presented his case to my father. Dr. Morse at once procured for his son's classmate the support he needed to go through college." After graduation Stafford became a missionary to the poor in New York City on a plan originated by himself and set forth in a small work, "A Missionary Field," which Governor DeWitt Clinton pronounced "a masterly performance" and which prepared the way for the city missions ultimately estab- lished in this country and Europe. His labors among seamen ripened into the American Seamen's Friend Society. He also engaged in the establishment of Sunday schools in New York. When visiting Dr. Morse at Charlestown in 1816, he gave a series of lectures in Boston by which he suggested to Dr. Joshua Huntington, of Old South Church, and his associates the found- ing of the Boston City Missionary Society and he also enlisted Dr. Morse in what was then an equally novel undertaking. "For at that time Sabbath schools were regarded as fitted only for children of the poor, in such cities as London and New York. * Wright, "Two Centuries of Christian Activity at Yale," pp. 56-66. Of this society, founded in 1797, ProfeBsor Henry B. Wright of Yale in his volume "Two Centuries of Christian Activity at Yale," says: "The records of the Moral Society in the Yale Library establish the fact that reUgious work by students and for students, which is popularly supposed to have begun in organized form at Yale with the founding in 1879 of the Christian Social Union, dates from nearly a century before." * Ibid., p. 327. 14 UY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Some thought for a church to open a school on the Lord's day would be a profanation of the Sabbath! But Dr. Morse ex- amined Stafford's proposal carefully, and as a result founded, in connection with his church, the first Sabbath School Society in Massachusetts and of it his two older sons were the first two superintendents."^ Following his graduation, during the years of another revival at Yale,^ my father lived in the family as the amanuensis or secretary of his father's friend President Timothy Dwight. This revival was distinctly a student movement, owing its initiative and strength to the members of the Moral Society. Of this period at Yale, Dr. Henry B. Wright, in his record of "Two Centuries of Christian Activity at Yale" says, "It was during these years of active evangelistic eflfort at Yale, that the Unitarian Movement — whose creed was that 'Salvation must be obtained by culture' — obtained control of Harvard. As President Hadley has shown* 'it was in large measure because of her firm adherence to the prevailing religious views of the country at that time, while Harvard embraced a never generally accepted theory, that Yale soon became a national institution, drawing her students from all countries and creeds. In Peter Parley's 'Eecollections of a Lifetime' we get a glimpse of the veneration with which Yale was regarded by outsiders in those days. 'In the summer of 1809 he visited New Haven, then a sort of Jerusalem in his imagination, a holy place containing Yale College of which Dr. Dwight was President.' "^ At Andover Theological Seminary my father passed through the three years' course and was licensed to preach in 1817. The following winter he spent in South Carolina as a supply of the Presbyterian Church on John's Island, and on his return to New England was for some years associated with his father and brother Sidney, in arduous geographical work. The Boston Recorder had been successfully carried through its first year — ^1816 — owing to the support it received from Dr. Morse, and the labors as editor of his son Sidney. It was the beginning of that class of periodicals called "religious news- papers" which have since become very numerous. Indeed the « Memorabilia in the "Life o£ Jedediah Morse, D.D.," pp. 1-3. ' Wright, "Two Centuries of Christian Activity at Yale," pp. 67-70, 8 Hadley, "Four American Universities," pp. 49-50. "Wright, "Two Centuries of Christian Activity at Yale," pp. 68-69. HEREDITY 15 plan was at once so favorably received, that dilring 1816 as many as twenty newspapers in different parts of the country attempted to become "religious newspapers" by devoting several columns each week to religious intelligence. But the effect upon Sidney Morse of this first year's experience as an editor was — to use his own words — "an enthusiastic desire to carry out my plan of a 'religious newspaper' more perfectly and on a larger scale than was possible in Boston, and at a center where all the leading religious denominations were evangelical and would give me cordial and generous support. Accordingly I communicated the plan in a letter to my friend Eev. Lyman Beecher, of Litchfield, Connecticut, who responded in terms of eulogy of it, and with the assurance that all the leading clergy and laymen of his acquaintance would zealously aid me in the execution of it. Circumstances prevented immediate action on my part." These "circumstances" included a growing absorption in the geographical and other enterprises of his father, with which his brother Richard, however, was fortunately less absorbed and preoccupied. For the latter felt a deeper and more en- thusiastic interest in reproducing and enlarging the interde- nominational "religious newspaper" enterprise of his father and older brother. Accordingly, with the consent of both of them, he left them at the home of the family in New Haven early in 1823 and went to New York City as a forerunner in the proposed undertaking. He was received cordially by the many friends of his honored father among the clergy and laity of the various denominations. In response to his urgent initia- tive, a prospectus was prepared by his brother in New Haven and with varied material from him and Others the first numbers of the paper were issued under the name of The New York Observer. Sidney Morse slowly yielded to the importunity in both word and deed of Eichard and finally removed his residence from New Haven to New York, earlier than he had thought it pos- sible to separate himself from other obligations. Thus his essential leadership at the place of publication was secured. My father was released to equally needed laborious effort in increasing the circulation of the new paper. Since the success of the Recorder in Boston, every prior attempt to establish 16 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN a religious paper in the State of New York had failed. But the Observer was so edited, and its circulation so vigorously promoted by the sons of Dr. Morse that it became under their management, for a considerable period, the most widely cir- culated religious newspaper in the land. Soon the number of subscribers was two or three times as large as that of the Recorder, which continued to be the leading religious news- paper of New England, and both papers during the generation following the death of Dr. Morse, in 1826, were conducted on the basis, and in the promotion of that interdenominational, evangelical fellowship — also manifested in the growth of the Bible and Tract Societies, with the origin of which Dr. Morse was equally identified. This broad Christian fellowship, it was the lifelong, industrious endeavor of the founders of the Observer to foster and extend. Many years after they were both strongly identified also with successful efforts to estab- lish the Evangelical Alliance, formed in 1846. The Observer was founded when the news of the day was carried to the public in weekly papers. Such a paper, carrying a religious tract and religious intelligence in every issue, was produced for some years by the founders. Chancellor Kent at this time said : "When I have read the Observer I have no need of any other newspaper." With the advent of the penny press and the modern daily paper a change to a daily was favored by one of the founders of the Observer — so he once told me. In that event, the paper in due time and in accord with its original design would have become a member of the New York Associated Press. During the strenuous years of his wide travel in search of subscribers for the Observer, my father went to Claverack, a suburb of the city of Hudson. There he found my mother, who was "the beautiful and attractive belle of the little village." It was a case of "love at first sight" — a love so true that it patiently endured until it received its response and due reward. Sarah Louisa Davis was the daughter of William Davis, who lost his life as a soldier during the War of 1812. His mother was the daughter of Dominie Gabriel Gebhard, of Claverack, a native of Walldorf, an ancient village of Baden, in Southern Germany. He was a student at Heidelberg and a graduate in theology of the University of Utrecht in Holland. He came to HEREDITY 17 New York and just before the outbreak of the American Eevolu- tion was settled as pastor of one of the Reformed Dutch Churches in that city. Early in that struggle, when the city passed into the possession of the British, Dominie Gebhard removed up the Hudson River to Claverack, where for forty years, during the remainder of his life, he served acceptably as pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church of that village. During this period he established the school known, for more than a century afterward, as the Hudson Academy. After the Revolution another native of Waldorf came to New York in the person of John Jacob Astor, and joined the Dominie as a fellow citizen of the new republic. The Claver- ack parsonage was located on the old Albany Road, which the New York merchant often traveled during the period when he sought pelts and furs in northern New York and Canada. Going and returning he was welcomed at the parsonage, and the two friends exchanged interesting news from their native village, and discussed the diflfering experiences of their lives in the new country. In my ancestry as an American citizen and churchman the presence of the clergyman is strongly pronounced, my father, his father, Dr. Morse, and his great-grandfather. President Samuel Finley, belonging to that calling, while my mother's grandfather was Dominie Gabriel Gebhard. It is an ancestry somewhat international also, relating me not only to the clergy of my own country, but also to that of Britain, Germany, and Holland — a genuine American heredity. CHAPTER II CHILDHOOD Of the children of my father and mother I was the seventh child and third son. My oldest brother died in infancy. Five sisters and four brothers survived our parents and these nine children, as an unbroken company, enjoyed delightful family fellowship for forty-four years— from 1847 when the youngest child was born until 1891, when our eldest "mother sister," Mrs. Samuel Colgate, who, beyond all others, lovingly pro- moted our family fellowship, passed on to her reward at the close of a life unselfishly devoted to the happiness and highest welfare of all she loved best. She was graciously endowed with a disposition and ability to help also a multitude in the time of their need. The majority of this family of nine, two sisters and three brothers, are still (1917) living, all of us beyond the limit of "three score years and ten." Childhood, 1841-1853 I was born on Sunday, September 19, 1841, at Hudson, New York, where the family was spending the summer. A writer born about this period says of it: "In May, 1844, telegraphic messages carried from Baltimore to Washington the news that Henry Clay and James K. Polk were nominated for the Presidency. About this time the first railroads were being built and the first Cunard steamers were crossing the Atlantic." He might have added also that on June 6, 1844, in the city of London the parent Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation was organized. In the nursery annals it is related that, soon after I had learned to talk, an attack of dropsy on the brain proved nearly fatal. When their son's life had been quite despaired of, friends sought to comfort the parents with the assurance that, even if the boy should recover, he would never have the use of his faculties! When the crisis was passed, in the period of convalescence the solicitude of my parents was relieved one 18 CHILDHOOD 19 day in the following manner: It was the kindly practice of our family physician on his daily visit to give each child a lozenge. One day, my older brother not being at home, the doctor gave two lozenges to me, one being for the absentee. When my brother returned, seeing a lozenge in my hand, he asked for it. "No," I said, "I have eaten yours, this one is mine." Before reaching the age of five I was sent to school. At six, I had committed to memory the 107 answers to the questions of the Shorter Catechism. This task was accomplished in due succession by each of my father's nine children, under his careful instruction. It was done with such thoughtful con- sideration and guidance on his part as to relieve the task of the dislike or aversion too often connected with it. This is one of many evidences which might be given, of the rare com- bination of wisdom, affection, and patience with which he trained his children. His efforts were accompanied by the loving, unselfish, untiring tenderness of my mother, who was spared to her children only until I was nine years of age. Early every Sunday evening a family service was held. In this home Sunday school my father began by asking for such an account as each could give of the sermons to which we had listened that day. Then followed the asking of questions from the Shorter Catechism. The practice of reporting the sermon, thus begun, was continued faithfully at my father's request, by each of us when away from home, as we wrote to him our weekly letter, whether absent at school or college or on visits to friends. This feature of Puritan Sabbath observance, car- ried down to us by our father, did not prove distasteful to his children, and by more than one of them has been reproduced in a modified form for their children, selected hymns com- mitted to memory being substituted for the Catechism. After his marriage, in 1827, my father's house and home were soon established in New York. Both his older brothers, one as a widower and the other as a bachelor, continued un- married for many years and this home was always the place of resort and residence for them during their stay in the city. It was the home until 1850 of my Uncle Sidney, who made us nine children feel toward him as to a second father and who in Ms will remembered us all in a fatherly fashion. In this 20 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN home the oldest of the brothers, Professor Morse, was fre- quently and always a welcome guest, especially during the long years of his struggle with the many obstacles in the path of his recognition as an inventor. Here he came in 1832 on his arrival from Europe, after that memorable voyage on the ship Sully, during which he made a beginning of his invention of the electro-magnetic telegraph. He occupied our front parlor for his first experiments, and burnt a hole in my mother's best carpet— an event which later became of enough importance to summon her to the witness stand, to establish in court, beyond controversy, that at that early date he had begun his labors upon the invention of his telegraphic instru- ment. Of later date is my earliest recollection of him and his frequent arrivals at our home on important errands, always relating as I was told to "Uncle Finley's lawsuits." These grew out of the long controversy in the courts concerning his just claims as an inventor — claims finally passed upon favor- ably by a decision of the Supreme Court. But our guests were not confined to members of the family, for the home was as full of hospitality as of children. There seemed no limit to what my mother was willing to do for others, in addition to all she was doing with untiring fidelity for her children. One year the entire family — wife and chil- dren — of a friend was hospitably entertained in our home for some months, while the father, a clergyman, was without a parish. It was an act of friendship, the grateful memory of which has been cherished by children and children's children. When I was eight years old, the family moved from Bank Street near Bleecker to a house then "far up town," built by my father on the northern side of Twenty-second Street be- tween Broadway and Fourth Avenue. There were then few houses in that block and neighborhood. Prom our rear win- dows looking north across Madison Square no houses inter- fered with our view of the Reservoir on Forty-second Street, which occupied what is now (1917) the site on Fifth Avenue of the Public Library. On many of the vacant lots between, we boys skated in the winter time. From our rear windows also we looked upon the nearby southwestern corner of Twenty-third Street and Fourth Avenue where stood a small frame house. In the rear of it CHILDHOOD 21 directly under our eyes was a little garden, where we used to watch an aged man at work among his flowers and vege- tables. He was very interesting to us because we were told he was Mayor Tiemann's father and that no one could obtain that land and house until the old man died. We wondered how long it would be before he and his house would disappear. Less than twenty years passed away and on that site was erected the first Young Men's Christian Association building, which in this or any city accommodated the fourfold work for young men. I was present at the laying of its corner stone and at its dedication and then within th« building in the Inter- national Committee's first oflBce, I spent the first strenuous nineteen years of my life work with the Committee, and the brotherhood it serves. My father was fond of travel by sea. He once told me that if he had followed his own preference in the choice of a voca- tion he would have been a sea-captain, but such a choice he knew would greatly disappoint his father. This led him to abandon it. Like his father he was not vigorous physically, and was subject to severe attacks of dyspepsia. But on the sea he was always in good health. This led to his crossing the Atlantic oftener than at that period was usual, and once he undertook a voyage around the world, then accomplished only in clipper ships. In a family discussion concerning one of these voyages, when the remarkable benefit he experienced from this travel by sea was being commented upon, one of his sisters-in-law, for whom such an experience was an unspeak- able weariness to the flesh, said to him very emphatically, "You ought to have been a fish !" When I was a boy nine years of age I crossed the Atlantic in a sailing vessel with my parents and an older sister. We little dreamed it was for me the first of forty-two Atlantic crossings — almost all of them upon errands connected with the work in life I was to undertake. No incident of my early boyhood is more vividly recalled nor more worthy of record than a scene and interview in New York harbor as we set out upon this voyage. As a boy nine years of age I stood with my parents and two eldest sisters on tiie deck of the packet ship Victoria. With the younger of these sisters and my parents I was setting out for Europe, 22 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN our principal errand being the restoration of my mother's health, impaired by the taxing activities of a loving self-for- getful life in a home always full of children and often of guests. For some years she had been an invalid and upon the eldest daughter— a girl just emerging from her teens— had already fallen, during recent years, the motherly care of her eight brothers and sisters, the youngest of whom even now was only three years old. The mother was not to return. With a presentiment of this sad fact, at the moment of their parting she said to her daughter : "I leave them all to you," and the answer she received was: "I will take care of them, Mother." It was the promise of a girl to undertake what at that time she seemed utterly without resource to accomplish. But during all the remaining forty-two years of her mortal life, her home was the home of all of us. She became our mother-sister and the promise of her youth was most faithfully and lovingly kept. Since her death twenty-five years more have passed away, and now the boy is the only living witness of the promise she gave that day sixty-seven years ago, and his testimony is that her husband and children have carried on to children's children the benediction of that blessed covenant and promise. Love is stronger than death and all the havoc even the king of terrors can create in the life of home and family from generation to generation. The winter following my mother's death I spent with my father in southern France at Montauban in the family of a friend, Professor G. de Felice. Here I gained a knowledge of the French language, which in later years proved of great value to me. The journey from Paris to Montauban was then accomplished in a diligence or stage coach, which we entered in Paris. The railroad then (1851) had been completed only as far as Blois. So our coach was placed on railroad trucks until that city was reached. Then we were put on wheels and drawn by relays of horses night and day to Montauban, consuming in the journey more time than now is required to go from New York to San Francisco or from London to Constantinople. This was the year (1851) of the first in the series of World Industrial Exhibitions. It was held in London in a great Crystal Palace erected in Hyde Park and afterward removed CHILDHOOD 23 to Sydenham. During the summer we visited this Palace, and I remember seeing the venerable Duke of Wellington walking near his home, Apsley House, at the entrance to Hyde Park. He was respectfully saluted by every one he met on the city thoroughfare. I had occasion to recall very vividly the impression then made upon me when, many years later, I was in London and learned that in this year of the great Ex- position the workers of the Young Men's Christian Association were specially active in tract distribution on the crowded streets of the city. One of the most youthful and zealous workers ventured to hand a tract to the venerable Iron Duke. To the surprise of lookers-on, the aged man paused in his walk, accepted the tract, and thanked the donor, in whose life it became a memorable event. In the Association also it was so memorable and deemed so worthy of record and report that the story of it was told to me with enthusiasm twenty years afterward. In December while we were in Montauban, occurred in Paris the coup d'fitat, by which Louis Napoleon, or as he was termed at the time by Victor Hugo, "Napoleon the Little," by the use of the army, overthrew the republic and made himself Emperor. Owing to imperial censorship of the press, many weeks passed before we received at Montauban full account of how the usurpation was accomplished in the city of Paris. Also toward the close of this year, in November and Decem- ber at Montreal and Boston and during the following June in New York and Washington, the first Young Men's Christian Associations began to be formed in North America by young men who were influenced by contact with the parent Asso- ciation in London. School Life, 1853-1855 On February 17th, 1846, my father writes to one of my older sisters : "Dick began school today at Mrs. Saxton's. He seems to have rather an old head on his shoulders, so I am willing to let him go, though only four years old. I believe you were not set to learn your book till you were nearly or quite six." My first absence from home to attend school occurred, when I was six years of age, at the school of Mrs. Seeley in Morris- town, New Jersey. 24 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Upon our return from France in the spring of 1852 my father placed me for a few months at a small school for boys in Irving Place, New York. I tarried there for only one term. Two of my schoolmates were Anson Phelps Stokes, and his younger brother James, with both of whom in after life I became better acquainted, and with the younger of whom I have been intimately associated during the entire period of my connection with the Young Men's Christian Association. At the age of twelve, after a brief experience in the public school and a term in Phillips Academy, Andover, I attended a family school with three of my sisters and my youngest brother, in Hartford, Connecticut, under the care of a sister- in-law of Horace Bushnell. For two years I had the privilege of listening to him every Sunday in the pulpit of the North Church. Some of those sermons I have remembered all my life. He was a gracious winsome personality to the boy parish- ioner, whom he often met in the home of his sister. I am indebted to him for some of the strongest impulses toward the Christian faith received in that adolescent period. During each year there was a season of special religious interest in response to the pastor's efforts. I attended the young people's prayer meetings and found them interesting and helpful. The texts Dr. Bushnell chose were often as striking and impressive as any portion of the discourse which followed. For one fast-day sermon in that period of anti-slavery agita- tion preceding the Civil War he announced as his text : "Shall iron (southern iron, he explained) break the northern iron and steel?" And on another fast-day, when the repeal of the Nebraska bill in the interests of slavery had been accomplished by Senator Stephen Douglas — a man of short stature — and when great indignation was being felt throughout New Eng- land, the announcement of his text: "The bed is shorter than that a man stretch himself upon it," created the sensation of the discourse. The summer vacation of 1852 was spent with my brothers and sisters in Woodstock, Connecticut, where we found still standing — it has since disappeared — the old homestead of my great-grandfather. Deacon Jedediah Morse. His family and kith and kin were numerous, and we children found to our surprise, that we had title to call almost everybody in the CHILDHOOD 25 village "cousin" many degrees, more or less, removed. Here, in Black Pond, for the first time I tried my hand at fishing, and was very proud of the results. Another vacation of these years at school has remained vividly impressed on my mind. With my brothers and sisters, I spent the summer of 1854 in Lenox, Massachusetts, then beginning to be a place of summer resort. Each Sunday as a boy of thirteen, accustomed to hear the sermons of Horace Bushnell, I listened successively to three ministers, of whose sermons on those Sundays I continue to retain vivid recollec- tion. The first of these preachers was Dr. Thomas H. Skinner of New York, who, ten years later, was one of my honored in- structors in Union Theological Seminary. He spoke from the text; "By it (faith) the elders obtained a good report." His theme was "A Good Name," in the sense in which it was used by the writer of the text. Effort and ambition to obtain this in the finest sense of the term were impressively set forth as among the noblest aspirations of which the human spirit is capable. The next Sunday my pastor, Dr. Bushnell, occupied the pulpit. His text was "And He was . . . asleep on a pillow." The utter defenselessness of one asleep was vividly described in the opening sentences, and this as token and evidence, among many others, of the veritable humanity of our Lord, with whatever limitations this might involve. The humanity and the human sympathy of Jesus were dwelt upon that Sun- day sixty years ago, in a manner that made an abiding im- pression. The third Sunday Henry Ward Beecher appeared in the pulpit of that modest country church. It was within seven years of the opening gun of the Civil War at Fort Sumter. I was to hear him again on the lecture platform at Andover Academy before the war and at Yale after the outbreak of that struggle and oftener in his own pulpit. This, however, was my first opportunity. He gave out the text: "Ij it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men." The opening sentence was : "// it be possible. This indicates that it is not always possible. Paul himself found it to be so." Th§n followed a description and definition^ with convincing 26 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN illustrations, of the disposition, both peaceable and unpeace- able, of the genuine follower of Christ. Andover, 1855-1858 My older brother, six years my senior, entered Yale in 1852. He had fitted for college at a private school of fair repute, in New York City, where he held a high rank among his school- mates. But in the effort to enter and keep in college he dis- covered he had been very poorly prepared. Painfully im- pressed by his experience, I resolved to follow, if I could, in the steps of my father and uncles, who were well prepared for college at Phillips Academy, Andover. In the autumn of 1853, in my brother's Sophomore year, my father yielded and took me to Andover, where I spent a term in the class of 1856. To continue in this class meant prepara- tion to enter college before I was fifteen years of age. On sober second thought it seemed better that for at least two years, during my father's absence abroad, I should join my sisters and younger brother in the family school at Hartford. Of these two years I have already given an account. When they had passed, my father was still absent, but his represen- tative, my Uncle Sidney, yielded to my urgency, and prepara- tion for college at Andover was resumed in the class of 1858. Dr. Samuel H. Taylor, widely known in and beyond New England as a teacher and educator of high rank, had been principal of Phillips Academy for many years, and was to continue his useful career for many years longer. He was often called — and enjoyed the title of — "the Doctor Arnold of New England." There was, however, in the tone and temper of his intercourse with his pupils more of severity and austerity than is attributed to Dr. Arnold. He was a teacher of marked and shining excellence, though exacting and severe as a disciplinarian both in and beyond the recitation room. Among us boys his only title was "Uncle Sam." His recitation room, to which only seniors were admitted, was known as "Number Nine." The reports and traditions concerning what took place there gave it dignity and pre- eminence beyond all other rooms in the Academy. At the close of the disciplinary ordeals we spent in its awesome atmosphere. Uncle Sam assigned me the position or rank of CHILDHOOD 27 seventh in a class of fifty-eight members. We then recited in the old stone Academy, soon afterward destroyed by fire. In later years as a graduate, in unawed conversation with Doctor Taylor, he told me that when the building which took the place of the stone Academy was being completed, it was unalterably decided, quite outside of his agency, that his recitation room, independently of where it should be located, must bear the historic name of "Number Nine." Some incidents of academy life at Andover may be worthy of record. The football field — can I ever cease to cherish the memory of it? — with its rough rocks, many undulations, and some smooth grassy reaches, was a joy to me from my first arrival upon it as a boy of twelve, in roundabouts, sur- viving a first struggle with homesickness. It was the only gymnasium, as well as athletic field, provided for us. I never fought in the multitudinous scrimmage into which the ball fell when "raised" by one of the best kickers on his side. It was a proud day for me when I had ascended from the ranks, and was vociferously requested to "raise the ball." As one of "the backs" of those days, I skirted the scrimmage for the chance to welcome the ball rolling out of the struggling legs and arms so that I could get it in front of me — to pick it up was forbidden — and run it out of bounds with a dribble and a final victorious kick! In senior year a small group of us rigged up near the board- ing house where we lodged, a single bar on which we managed to do all manner of stunts. This was the beginning of a gymnasium career which was developed in the use of better facilities in college and culminated, after many years, in the Roberts dumb-bell drill of the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion gymnasium. From boyhood I was fond of historical reading. At home and school I became interested in heroes of the Bible and of the ancient empires, and equally in the stories of the French and Indian Wars and of the American Revolution. My father was born under the shadow of Bunker Hill. Within thirty years of the battle, as a boy he was accustomed to show visitors over that field of strife. George Washington, Warren, Israel Putnam, Nathaniel Greene, Francis Marion, Commodore Paul Jones, and other leaders became familiar 28 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN names. Botta's History of the American Kevolution, in a double sense was a ponderous volume, but interest in the facts narrated triumphed over the prosaic style in which it seemed to be written. When the "History of Napoleon," by John S. C. Abbott, appeared during the early fifties, in successive numbers of Harper's New Monthly Magazine, each issue was eagerly read. Hannibal and Caesar, Napoleon and Washington were linked together very closely in the literary enjoyment of this boyhood period. Napier's "Peninsular War" was one of the largest octavo volumes in the library at home, but it was read through from beginning to end, and eager acquaintance was made with the career of Wellington in Spain, only a few years after, as a boy of nine I had seen the Iron Duke, as an aged man, on the streets of London, during the first of the series of World's Industrial Expositions. In Andover, at the age of fourteen, less time was available for reading. In vacation periods. Cooper's "Indian Tales," Walter Scott's "Poems," Macaulay's "Lays of Ancient Rome," his "History of England," and kindred books were enjoyed. Literature of a different class also had attractions. In term time, with a number of congenial spirits, I became a reader of the New York Ledger and its exciting stories with their strong flavor of melodrama. The serial tales of a favorite contributor to that paper, Sylvanus Cobb, Jr., particularly attracted us. Each weekly issue left hero or heroine or both in perilous situation, challenging our sympathy as well as our curiosity. The latter feeling gradually gained the mastery with us, owing to our growing faith in the author, and his capacity to extricate his and our friends from every peril. The week we left Andover after graduation and commence- ment, the situation as described in the Ledger of that week was very harrowing. For some forgotten reason, during the weeks that followed our leaving Andover I was prevented from buying, as usual, a copy of the weekly Ledger. Without any definite purpose on my part, the inclination to make this weekly purchase and to continue reading the paper and its stories faded away. It disappeared so completely and yet so unconsciously that it was a surprise to myself when months later, in college at New Haven^ some circumstance caused me CHILDHOOD 29 to wonder why I had so suddenly given up a course of reading so long continued and habitual. An inclination and desire to become a minister of the Gospel had been cherished from boyhood. Before leaving Andover I had reached a decision to seek preparation for this qalling. No one at that time had knowledge of this except one of my sisters. Knowing the strong desire my father felt in this direction, I did not want to subject him to the disappointment he would experience if any unforeseen change of mind should be forced upon me during my college course of study. Such a change seemed to me possible because I seriously distrusted my qualification for the calling I had chosen. Into the life of faith and trust in Jesus Christ I had been born, and guided from infancy by my parents. The first step in that life by my own initiative was taken as a boy of twelve in Andover Academy during the fall term, when I was attend- ing regularly, in the Stone Academy, the weekly prayer meet- ing held by the students. It was after one of these meetings led by a theological student, that I wrote to my father of the serious impression made upon me, and my desire to make such a confession of faith as his older children had made, and as I knew of his great joy in their making. He replied express- ing his fatherly sympathy and saying he had written of me to his own and his father's friend. Dr. Leonard Woods, still an aged resident of Andover, where forty years before this time he had been my father's teacher at the Seminary. Dr. Woods received me very cordially in his home and I carried from the interview a copy of Doddridge's "Rise and Progress" inscribed with his name — a volume greatly prized for the sake of the giver. From the reading of it, I did not receive the benefit which it was the design of both the giver and the author to convey. Correspondence, and later intercourse with my father, and a little volume he sent to me entitled "The Happy Christian" were more helpful. But my Christian life for some years was not a very happy one. On my return to Andover two years later, I resumed regular attendance at our student prayer meetings. My more intimate friends were also in this fellowship. Our last year at the Academy, 1857-8, was the year of the great revival of religion which prevailed throughout the country. Its influence was 30 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN powerfully felt among us,, and by almost all the members of our class. The Academy students, as part of the exercises of the school, attended Sunday morning and afternoon service in the chapel of the Theological Seminary, listening in turn to the pro- fessors of that institution— Edwards A. Park, Calvin E. Stowe, Asa Barrows, Stuart Phelps, and W. G. T. Shedd. During this season of revival, Dr. Shedd preached a course of sermons on the text: "What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee?" Strong emphasis was laid upon what we would not say; and a profound impression was made upon the lis- teners. There was that in the style and manner of the preacher, the substance of his discourse, and the spirit of it, which ever after made me eagerly seize any opportunity to hear from him in the pulpit. During Senior year at the Academy, while at home for the autumn vacation, under the guidance of our pastor. Dr. William Adams, I joined the Madison Square Presbyterian Church. I was led to take the step by the urgency of one of my Andover classmates, Cornelius Kitchel, with whom I was attending each week the student prayer meetings. He was of my own age and already a member of the church at his home, of which his father was pastor. When I did not tarry with him at the communion service in the Andover Chapel he took me to task in a way so kindly and persuasive that my father was appealed to. An interview with Dr. Adams fol- lowed. When I appeared before the session of the church the only question I remember being asked, was: "When did you first feel conviction of sin?" My inability to fix the date did not interfere with a favorable conclusion of the deliberation by pastor and session. Richard C. Morse, at Sixteen CHAPTER III COLLEGE LIFE AT YALE 1858-1862 Of the one hundred and thirty-four students who at its begin- ning in Freshman year were enrolled in our class at Yale, the great majority were professing Christians, most of them being church members. As the years of college life passed, there was the usual percentage of loss after a season of intense religious interest. Promptly during the first term, according to a pre- cedent dating from my father's period in college (1808-1812), we elected class deacons, then three in number, to serve for the four years — an election which later, by the action of the Yale Association, was wisely postponed to a later period in the life of the incoming classes. What had led me to distrust my qualification for the minis- terial calling was the conviction of a painful lack of aptitude and capacity either as a writer or speaker. Qualification in both these directions had been gained by some of the class at Andover in the Philomathean Literary Society. Siich training I had failed to seek or acquire. Such time as I had given to study had been almost wholly devoted to preparation for the class room. So the college course was begun with the convic- tion of an urgent need to test whether enough proficiency in writing and speaking could be attained to justify me in seek- ing to become a minister. In the recitation room, to take at least an oration stand seemed necessary lest I should disap- point my father. Such a stand being secured, the remainder of my time I proposed to give in the two directions indicated. In setting this goal of endeavor, a place on the honor roll of speakers at the evening session of Junior Exhibition, and in Senior year a place among the six winners of Townsend Premiums seemed to me a more satisfying achievement than to obtain the valedictory. This somewhat definite ambition was cherished in Freshman 31 32 MiY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN year, and to this end I engaged in every one of the weekly debates of the Freshman Society to which I belonged. At the end of the year, in spite of the weariness and other tribula- tion which the patient listeners had endured, they asked the persistent debater to prepare and deliver an oration. The fitting theme chosen for them and for the speaker was "Per- severance as an Element of Success !" In all the competitions of the first two years, no prize was won. But the goal set for the last two years was achieved, as well as the oration rank in the class room, which also had seemed indispensable. At Andover, according to the standard of marks in the recitation room, 1 had ranked seventh in a class of fifty-eight members; at Yale among one hundred I was number twenty-one, and of the hundred, twenty-one were younger than I. Beginning of the Civil War The national event of world-wide significance during our col- lege course was the sudden, and to the last moment unexpected, outbreak of the Civil War. This occurred during the spring vacation, in April of our Junior year, and during that vacation two of the class, in response to President Lincoln's first call for troops, enlisted for three months. At the end of the three months both returned to college and graduated with us the following year. During the summer term of 1861, on the campus and elsewhere, many awkward squads of students and others were being drilled, and the boys of Russell's Mili- tary School were at a premiurh as instructors. It was widely be- lieved among us that a particularly awkard squad, composed of members of the faculty, was being drilled in some unknown place by a boy from this school. I did not hear anyone report having actually seen the drill going on ! Nine members of the class, including four non-graduates, died in the Civil War — one non-graduate in the Confederate Army. Thirty-two took part as officers in the army and navy. But the outbreak of the Civil War in April, 1861, was not followed by any such excitement among faculty and students at Yale as prevailed in 1917 upon the declaration of war against Germany. The magnitude and length of the conflict were not forecast. The President had called for only 75,000 three months' men and COLLEGE LIFE AT YALE 33 Secretary Seward was confident that the war would be over in ninety days ! Three times during the four years at New Haven, I listened to eloquent discourses from Wendell Phillips. In the autumn of 1859, roused by the execution of John Brown, he gave ad- dresses for many successive nights, in different cities, in en- thusiastic eulogy of the man whom he extolled as hero, victim, and martyr, and in scorching denunciation of those whom he deemed guilty of his untimely death. The student section of his audience at New Haven was numerous, and our Sophomore class was well represented. His voice, owing to the terrible strain it had been subjected to for many previous nights, was hoarse and harsh at the beginning. Soon the exciting and inciting influence of his theme removed every impediment to the torrent of his invective and eloquence. Earlier in our college life he gave his famous lecture on the negro patriot of San Domingo, Toussaint I'Ouverture, of whom at the close of his lecture he said : "You call me a fanatic today, for you see with your preju- dices, not with your eyes. But a hundred years hence when history gets written, some Tacitus shall arise, shall take Phocion for the Greek, Brutus for the Roman, Hampden for England, Washington — that bright, consummate flower of western civilization — for America, but dipping his pen in deeper blue, shall write in brighter, fairer sunlight, far above them all, the name of the Warrior, Statesman, and Martyr of San Domingo, Toussaint I'Ouverture!" Again, very soon after Fort Sumter had been flred upon and the Civil War had begun, Wendell Phillips spoke in New Haven to an audience docile and sympathetic under the fascinating spell of his logic and eloquence. He forecast the effect of this convulsion upon the South, and depicted the certain and swift rise in those states of a negro republic under the leadership and presidency of another Toussaint I'Ouverture. As we went out into the night, for some hours I believed in the vision he had given, so vivid was the impression he had made upon at least one of his audience. Not many days after, Henry Ward Beecher came to New Haven to speak on the national crisis. Prom some sheets of paper on the desk in front of him he read part of what he had to say. As he talked most earnestly about 34 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN the lessons of the hour, he described vividly what a terrible, oppressive burden slavery had proved upon the South. Then, rolling up the sheets of paper in front of him, and holding the roll in his right hand, he left the speaker's stand, and, coming toward us to the edge of the platform, described in his inimit- able manner how South Carolina and her sister states had been pushed downward as on an inclined plane under a burden too heavy to be borne. Now in the providence of God they had come to the end of their descent. Believed of their burden, their steady ascent was sure, to the levels of oppor- tunity, privilege, and resources enjoyed by the free states, in an indissoluble union. With this apparently spontaneous out- burst of passionate eloquence he sent us away with optimistic and patriotic convictions which tarried with us, and in the outcome of which we were not disappointed. In the interval between the two lectures from Wendell Phillips I heard another speaker — afterward of greater fame than any other I ever listened to — Abraham Lincoln. He came to New Haven in the spring of our Sophomore year (1860), to take part as a campaign speaker on the eve of a closely con- tested election in the State of Connecticut. At the time we were listening to him, it was wholly unsuspected that before the end of that year he would be nominated and elected Presi- dent of the United States, and that in that high oflSce — as all the world now knows — he would so serve his country as to be ranked deservedly with George Washington. We eagerly went to hear him because of the remarkable record he had made two years before in his joint debate with Stephen Douglas in Illinois. Also much more recently (February, 1860), he had made a very acceptable address to a New York audience in Cooper Institute — an address to which the years have added appreciation and reputation. Of this long political campaign through which he was then passing and which resulted in his election, one of his biographers forcibly says: "During this whole period (1858-1860) every dweller in the United States was hotly concerned about the absorbing question of slavery. Lincoln's condensed speeches of the period may be likened to an anti-slavery gospel, containing the whole basis of the anti- slavery cause as maintained by the Republican party and it is worth noticing that both Lincoln and Douglas in their joint COLLEGE LIFE AT YALE 35 debate confined their disputation closely to the slavery ques- tion."i Certainly this was the burden and emphasis of the cam- paign speech with which he fastened the attention of his audience in New Haven. Only a few months before we had been stirred by the hot and eloquent words of Wendell Phillips about John Brown. Now we listened to a piece of calm, strong, convincing reasoning, lightened and clarified by pertinent anec- dotes. One of these was the story of two heated disputants, of whom one was contending that the Bible, especially the New Testament, severely condemned slavery. Challenged for his au- thority, he opened the book and pointed to the passage condemn- ing menstealers. When the other retorted he could not see the force of this citation, his opponent produced a gold coin and placing it on the open page over the quoted word, asked : "Now do you see it?" Both in reason and in scripture, said the speaker, is seen the inherent wrong of slavery, making its growth or permanent existence intolerable in a union of states where genuine liberty must be constitutionally guaranteed. Such a union could not continue permanently half slave and half free. This was the proposition which Lincoln maintained with a relentless logic and with a sagacious forecast which the event abundantly justified. To Lincoln himself during this tour a New England clergy- man said : "In hearing you last evening, I learned more of the art of public speaking than I could from a whole course of lectures on rhetoric." He was also told that at New Haven a Yale professor came to hear him, took notes of the speech, and gave a lecture to his class upon it the following day. To the coming President this seemed very extraordinary. His own modest comment on the tour was: "Certainly I have had a most wonderful success for one of my limited education."^ Athletic and Other Interests The physical training begun at Andover I was ambitious to continue in college. At that time the only college gymnasium was a small barn-like house of one story on High Street behind the campus. It had one floor, level with the street. In it were some dumb-bells — one of thirty, another of forty-five, and a > John T. Morse, Jr., "Life of Abraham Linoohi," Vol. I., pp. 166-157. 2 "The Everyday Life of Lincoln," pp. 222, 223. 36 IHY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN third of eighty pounds, also a single bar and parallel bars and a few other pieces of equipment. Here those of us who were interested came each noon in the autumn of 1858. The hero of the place was the strong man of the class of '59, who could put up the eighty pound dumb- bell with one of twenty pounds attached to it. This was Bob Stiles, afterward De Forest medal man, and then as a gradu- ate, Major Eobert Stiles of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. No other class ever seemed to me to attain unto genuine Senior dignity as did '59 in the persons of Eugene Smith, its valedictorian; Ed. Carrington, class orator; Joe Twichell, and other equally venerated characters. The men of '60 were always Juniors and '61 was only and always a Sopho- more class. Of course, '62 was an exception to all others. It stood in a realm by itself. To put up that eighty pound dumb-bell was my first ambition in the gymnasium. A Junior was the hero of the single bar. On it he could do the Giant Swing. This was my second ambition. At the end of the first term. Freshman year, I attained unto the forty-five pound dumb-bell, in the second term to the Giant Swing, and during the strenuous third term the eighty pound dumb-bell yielded to treatment by my mus- cular right arm. In our Sophomore year the new gymnasium was erected on Library Street, and opened in 1859 or '60. Six or eight bowling alleys were introduced on the ground floor. It was at that time a remarkable innovation, for the bowling alley was so intimately associated with the drinking saloon that it was widely under the ban of that churchly public opinion which is often, but not always, entitled to first consideration. In point of fact, a long step in advance was being taken by a Christian college of the first rank toward that later, larger, and wiser provision for physical training, in the fuller develop- ment of which throughout the country and the world the Young Men's Christian Association was to lend a hand— a hand strong, virile, trained, and efficient. At once upon the opening of the gymnasium four students were to be found un- interruptedly on each alley— two to bowl and two set up pins — from 8 A. M. when the alleys were opened for use, until 10 p. M. when the place was closed for the night. This in- COLLEGE LIFE AT YALE 37 eluded recitation hours, during some of which the entire student body had been summoned to the class room ! Exactly how long this craze lasted I cannot recollect, but for enough days to tax severely the patience of the college faculty. It has seemed to me greatly to the credit of that group of teachers that they refrained from enforcing regulations and prohibitions, but allowed the craze to wear itself out. For in time, without any action by them that I can recall, the alleys were deserted at the hours of recitation, and then at other hours, until, as the years went by, their number was reduced because the supply was greater than the demand. I frequented the gymnasium in Sophomore as much as in Freshman year, and in the summer joined one of the class boating clubs, "The Thulia," and was chosen a member of the crew which was to row that summer, against a corresponding class crew of Harvard, on Lake Quinsigamond near Worcester. We had no instructor or trainer, either in the gymnasium or on the water, and ignorantly prescribed for ourselves a too rigorous training. Each morning, Sundays excepted, before a sponge bath and breakfast, we ran from the old Brick Row a mile and a half and return, along College Street and Tutor's Lane — now known as Prospect Street. Later in the day, be- tween recitations, the thirty pound dumb-bell was put up two hundred times by all the crew in concert, as a preliminary to pulling the rowing weights and other more voluntary feats. Of the latter, my own favorite was a lively, if somewhat vio- lent, handswing on the two iron rings suspended from the ceiling ! When the recitations for the day were over, we walked to the boat house and rowed over the course in the harbor. Our period of training began with the summer term in May, and continued with unabated vigor until our struggle with Harvard in July. I began the season as a member of the second Thulia crew, but was transferred to the first crew about the middle of the summer. In its first race the crew won the college championship in a struggle with the Junior class ('61) crew. On the fourth of July we went to Providence with the 'Varsity crew, and rowed in a regatta with several other crews, winning the second prize, the 'Varsity taking the first. The class was then enduring the dreaded two weeks of biennial examinations 38 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN at the close of its Sophomore year. One of the six diflScult written examinations of this period began on the morning of July 5th, one hour before we could reach New Haven after the race. The authorities consented to our loss of this hour. We submitted with a cheerfulness which increased after we had won the coveted prize. As we entered Alumni Hall an hour late, we were greeted with applause. It was the only applause the class ever listened to or was guilty of during the solemn hours of the biennial and other examinations which we endured in that hall of ordeals. Our struggle with Harvard ended in defeat, and somewhat ingloriously, for, owing less to our folly than to our dietary ignorance, by a ridiculous mistake at the training table, per- petrated after we had reached Worcester, we so radically dis- abled one of the crew by a perverse diet, that before we had rowed half the course he was unable to continue at his oar, and after turning the stake boat we could not complete our return to the starting point. The disappointment of our classmates and friends was keen enough, but could not compare with the years-long duration of our own ! In the autumn, however, some solace was granted us in an- other struggle for the college championship with our former competitors. We were again victorious and held the flag till the close of our college course. My only experience of regular training was during that strenuous summer of Sophomore year. At commencement time in 1862, the ranking mark re- ceived for each term was accessible, and with surprise I learned that during this summer, most occupied with special extra- curriculum work, my stand in class was higher than in any previous term. Some reading was accomplished at college, especially of his- tory, and of novels of the superior sort, including all of George Eliot. In poetry, special emphasis was given to Tennyson. My choice of a theme for Junior Exhibition was "Prescott as a Historian." It was suggested by reading both his and Motley's historical works and becoming particularly interested in a com- parison of the excellences of these two eminent writers of history. The theme chosen for Commencement, in the heat of the Civil War, was "The Mission of Calamity to the State." Our class in Yale graduated early in the second year of the war, COLLEGE LIFE AT YALE 39 soon after McClellan's campaign on the Peninsula, and before the battle of Antietam. At this time I suffered one of the most serious disappointments of my life in being prevented from enlisting in the Union Army. That I was providentially hin- dered from following this strong desire and determination, I have been slowly led to believe, with a final conviction which for many years seemed to me impossible. To our Commencement Exercises my father came, not only on my account, but also to attend as a graduate of the class of 1812, his fiftieth or Jubilee Year class meeting. As we walked over the campus together he pointed out to me the buildings placed upon it during the half-century then closing. Their number and dimensions seemed impressive, but of course were not to be compared to the number added and to be counted when fifty years afterward, in 1912, the survivors of our class met at their Jubilee and I completed there the century of graduate life accomplished within the united lives of my father and his son. During the college course the purpose to study for the ministry was definitely settled with my father's hearty sym- pathy and approval. My religious faith and life had gradually obtained stronger anchorage. As a teacher I served in one of the mission schools of New Haven, of which the superintendent was Daniel C. Gilman, then Yale Librarian, and afterward an educator of steadily growing distinction, connected at first with the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale, then with the Uni- versity of California, and preeminently with Johns Hopkins University as organizer and first President. I was also one of the group in our class who attended and were benefited by the class prayer meetings under the manage- ment of the three deacons. During our course the college pas- tor. Dr. George P. Fisher, resigned to undertake with scholarly distinction the professorship of Church History in the Divinity School. In the period intervening between his pastorate and that of his successor. President Theodore Dwight Woolsey more often than any one else filled the pulpit, very acceptably to us students. During my vacation I listened most frequently at Sunday services to our pastor at home, Dr. William Adams — ^pastor for forty years of the Madison Square Presbyterian Church — and enjoyed opportunities of hearing Henry Ward 40 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Beecher, Dr. Richard S. Storrs, Dr. Stephen H. Tyng, Dr. W. G. T. Shedd, and other men of strong leadership in the pulpit. Owing to these favoring influences within the class, the col- lege, and the church, my religious faith became stronger and more intelligent, and my religious life somewhat less unsatis- factory. For whatever genuine progress was made in this direction I was deeply indebted to the happy friendships begun at Andover, and to those formed with other congenial class- mates, especially with my roommate Henry Stebbins. From the inner circle already named in this narrative, I received spiritual impulse. In the growing intimacies of our college life, we confirmed one another in our vocational choice, and in the obligations and the privileges of the calling for which we were seeking preparation and qualification. The four years at college were an elect period, full of helpful incidents and influences. The disappointments in my case far exceeded in number the successes. Though more numerous, and extending to the end of the course, they did not prove dis- couraging to strenuous endeavor. On the contrary, they were a discipline more severe and refining than that of the class room. They intensified the gratification yielded by such suc- cess as was in the end secured. But what was far more im- portant, they pointed out the only path to the success of future years, and gave qualification to tread that path. Some years after we had graduated, one of the leading and more mature of my classmates said to a member of our family whom he met that in his opinion I had improved the opportunities for self-improvement presented during the course to better purpose than any other member of the class. But no vote on this subject was ever taken at any of our class meetings ! Members of the Class of 1862 Of my classmates and fellow students at Andover Academy twenty-four entered, and seventeen graduated at Yale in the class of '62. As Freshmen we numbered one hundred and thirty-four. Some twenty joined us during the four years. But many more than twenty disappeared and in the permanent catalogue we number for all time exactly one hundred. Twenty were on their way to join the clergy— the path I also was pursuing. Twenty-six became lawyers, twenty- COLLEGE LIFE AT YALE 41 four entered business life, eight were teachers, six tarried in the Army and Navy, and five have been active in the realm of literature. Among those seeking to become clergymen I had begun at Andover to find companions and friends. Two of this number were our valedictorian and third scholar at both Academy and College — John Phelps Taylor, for many years professor in Andover Theological Seminary, and Cor- nelius Ladd Kitchel, afterward scholarly tutor and instructor at Yale. The companionship begun as boys became friendship in college and yielded us life-long fellowship, as we came in touch for fifty years and more at many class meetings and elsewhere. This has been true with peculiar emphasis in relation to my roommate for the last two years at Yale, Henry H. Stebbins. For another two years as theological students we roomed together. Later in life we married sisters and our homes continued in easy reach of one another while he became in succession pastor and leading citizen at Eiverdale, OswegO; and Eochester, New York. Another in this group of scholarly rank was Henry S. Bar- num, for forty-eight years in the Turkish Empire at Harpoot, Van, and Constantinople. In command of both the Armenian and Turkish languages, he rendered lifelong service as a miS' sionary of fine qualifications and patient fidelity. The out break of the present world war in 1914 led to his return home in the forty-eighth year of his missionary labors. In a con- versation with him a few weeks before his death, his life work on behalf of the Armenian people and the terrible ordeal threatening extermination through which that people were passing were referred to. He replied: "My hope and faith concerning them may be summarized in two words, 'God reigns.' " An intimate Andover friend, James H. Crosby — not in our class there — ^joined us at Yale where our friendship gained a strong anchorage. For most of our graduate life — as a most faithful class secretary — he has become a valued friend of every one of his classmates. Edward Benton Coe, fifth in rank as a scholar, was a pro- fessor at Yale for twelve years and then until his death, in 1914, was one of the pastors of the Collegiate Reformed Church, of New York City. During his later and what his associates 42 My LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN thought his best years, he became the Senior— really the Dean or Bishop— of that group of influential clergy and churches. After twenty years of excellent work as pastor, Charles B. Sumner in 1888 founded, and has since continued so identified with the growth into high rank of Pomona College, California, that many of his best friends hope the name it bears may be changed to Sumner College. During fifty years and more, one of the most retiring mem- bers of the class, Arthur Goodenough, has lived the exemplary life of a village pastor of sterling worth and character. Early in our graduate life he became known to all of us as father of the class boy, who in due season graduated in the class of 1887. The only member of the class from Canada, Elisha Stiles Lyman, was also a member of our championship class crew, and during Senior year, Commodore of the Yale Navy. Some years after graduation he joined the ranks of the clergy for a season and then during many years until his death in 1907, became a member of the Plymouth Brethren and was a faith- ful, conscientious, and devotedly active leader among them. Among the twenty-six classmates who became lawyers were friends for life whom I began to know at Andover. One of these was my roommate for a year at college, Frederic Adams. From the beginning he was known among us as "The Judge" and has abundantly justified this title and our exalted opinion of him by occupying for many years and still retaining (1916) with growing credit a seat as Judge of the Circuit Court of New Jersey. Melville Cox Day, another Andover boy, after making honor- able record as a lawyer in St. Louis and New York, in his later years and by bequest in his will became widely known as the donor to Andover Academy of larger endowment than has come to that venerable institution from any one of its many benefactors. Eminent among graduate donors to Yale was another classmate, William Lampson, who was both lawyer and banker. Buchanan Winthrop was a scholar of rank among us and the only classmate elected and reelected as a member of the Yale Corporation and active upon its Prudential Com- mittee. A fund bearing his father's name is one of the tokens of his interest in the University. He also became a leading churchman and for many years served as Treasurer of the COLLEGE LIFE AT YALE 43 Protestant Episcopal Church, one of the two highest offices accorded to laymen in that communion. John Wesley Ailing, second scholar in the class, has lived his graduate life in New Haven as one of its lawyers and citi- zens of fine repute and honorable achievement. The fourth scholar of the class, and the winner of the De Forest Gold Medal as leading speaker and writer, we chose as our class orator, Daniel Henry Chamberlain. He served with honor as an officer in a negro regiment during the Civil War. In the difficult reconstruction period at the South he was one of the f ramers of the new State Constitution of South Carolina. Under it he was elected Attorney General and then Governor. Of him as Governor during that troubled period so difficult for a northern man to live through creditably at the South, it was said by leaders of the party who had opposed his elec- tion, "Governor Chamberlain richly deserves the confidence of the people of this state." The trustworthy historian James Ford Rhodes adds^ : "He began the redemption of South Caro- lina; it was completed under Democratic auspices." At the close of this period (1876) until his death in 1907, he accom- plished a useful career as a member of his profession and as a public-spirited citizen of exceptional ability. Albert Francis Judd, one of our two members from the Hawaiian Islands, returned to his home to become in due time Attorney General and then Chief Justice of the Islands, honored and beloved until his death in 1900. To the Yale Com- mencement of 1897 he came with his wife, to be present at the graduation of the two eldest of his seven sons and also to attend the thirty-fifth year meeting of his class. A poet was graciously granted to the class in the person of one who first joined the ranks of the lawyers. He tarried too few years with us to fulfil the bright promise of his youth and early manhood. But Robert Kelley Weeks lived long enough to endear himself to the choice group of friends who discerned the fine quality of his mind and character. One of the class, himself a literary critic of excellence, said of this friend : "He nourished an authentic spark of the poet's flame." Another critic, more widely known, Richard Henry Stoddard, selects one of Weeks's poems, a brief little ballad entitled "A ' J. F. Rhodes, "History of the United States," Vol. VII., pp. 164^167. 44 My LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Song of Lexington" as "the truest measure of what his powers would have been if he had not been cut off in his early prime," and adds : "If any battlefield of Revolutionary fame has given rise to better writing than his we have yet to see it. That ballad, if nothing else, has placed Mr. Weeks permanently among the poets of America." This verdict by one himself a poet was confirmed years afterward by another member of the clan, Edmund Clarence Stedman, when he placed in his elect collection, "An American Anthology," the above mentioned poem and two others by one who was his junior at Yale as well as in the republic of letters. The youngest member of the class, Joseph F. Randolph, has added, according to his own confession: "Nine volumes — say eight thousand pages — to the world's burden of books" and — as may be said with equal truth— he has thus supplied to his fellow workers in the law, tools of standard, trustworthy quality. In the department of Bible interpretation he has also prepared and published an admirable treatise on "The Law of Faith." Henry Holt, our class poet, became publisher and later author, though not in the realm of poetry. As head of the publishing house bearing his name, he has made that name widely and well known in the world of good literature. Franklin MacVeagh, founder and head of the business house in Chicago bearing his name, has been widely known as a public spirited citizen, identified with the promotion of civic reform in his own city of Chicago and on the national arena in the cabinet of President Taft as Secretary of the Treasury. Pierce N. Welch became a business man and banker of fine reputation in New Haven, "a man of grave spirit, of ruling conscience, of few words, wise, the soul of industry, 'fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.' " A commodious dormitory on the Yale campus bears enduring testimony to a generous affec- tion for his University. Among the eleven classmates who graduated with credit into the medical profession was William Wallace Seely. We were friends at Andover and Yale and rowed together on our cham- pionship crew. He attained eminence as a physician in Cin- cinnati, served acceptably as professor and Dean in the medical college of that city, and also as professor at Dartmouth. COLLEGE LIFE AT YALE 45 Of similar repute in New York City, Prancke H. Bosworth has been eminent as both professor and practitioner. With these and three other medical classmates Roger S. Tracy, Arnold W. Catlin, and Kobert P. Chapman, who found homes and accomplished fine careers in the great metropolis, I have enjoyed fellowship. Prederick Irving Knight was another classmate eminent as a physician in Boston, instructor at Harvard, and prominently connected with the journalism of his profession and with hos- pital service and administration. George M. Beard, of our Andover group, died at the early age of forty-three in the midst of a busy, industrious life full of the promise of remarkable achievement in the medical uses of electricity and in other lines of professional research. Of classmates who wrought effectively as teachers, two ren- dered rare service to the deaf and dumb : Edward C. Stone, in Hartford, Connecticut, and Charles W. Ely, in Prederick, Mary- land. In the latter city on one Sunday I was Ely's guest and retail vividly an address he desired me to make to his pupils, with himself as necessary interpreter in the sign-language. Both these teachers were for many years principals and super- intendents of the large institutions they served, and their names have a place of honor among those who have devoted their lives to the welfare of the deaf and dumb. Henry P. Johnston, second stroke of our championship crew, after serving with distinction on the signal corps of the Union Army throughout the Civil War, has been for over thirty years and beyond the limit of three score and ten Professor of His- tory in the College of the City of New York. He is the author of several scholarly volumes upon incidents and characters in American history. Among our scholars of high rank was Grosvenor S. Starr, who was also the stroke oar of our championship crew. He did not graduate because of his conscientious ardor to reach the front speedily as a soldier in the Civil War. He enlisted as an adjutant in one of the Connecticut regiments. On the campus in front of the old Brick Row, Pranklin MacVeagh in the name of the class, presented him with a sword. Before we graduated he had laid down his life in the service of his country. 46 M,y LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN The Yale graduate custom of holding class meetings at Com- mencement in the third and sixth and tenth year after gradu- ation, and then every fifth year until the fiftieth and beyond, fosters other meetings in the intervals, outside of New Haven, and especially in New York City. Since our graduation, in response to more than twenty such calls, as many of us as could have in each instance come together in New Haven and in New York, thus endeavoring to make lifelong the fellowship begun in school and college. It was the beginning of these friendships which gave to the days and years of life in college its principal charm, enthroning it in memory as a halcyon period. What one learned of the fine art of making and fostering friendship was of priceless value in after life. Associated with this was a fellowship with our instructors less intimate, but equally lifelong in benefit realized. Preeminent among them was President Theodore Dwight Woolsey. Also commanding our respect and confidence were Professors Noah H. Porter, James H. Hadley, Thomas Thacher, George P. Fisher, James D. Dana, Ellas Loomis, and Timothy Dwight. One of the class when past seventy years of age writes: "What a nursery of friendship college life was in our day. What wonder that the precious plant grew mightily and bore fruit." One ripe fruit of this precious plant came to me in the fifty-fifth year after our graduation in the following letter from a classmate, written upon the death of my wife : ,, ^ T, April 19, 1917. My Dear Richard, ^ ' "I have just seen the notice about Mrs. Morse. She goes before you, perhaps to help prepare the Lord's new dwelling for both of you and it cannot be as long before as it has been with me. She was a charming woman and you. will miss her dreadfully but you will soon be glad (as I was) that you were not taken away from her and that she is entering on the joy of Christ's presence rather than into the desolation of widow- hood. This going into life — the life beyond, one by one, is in God's wisdom and mercy, but it seems to us to make all the bitterness of this experience. That you may find some new fellowship in Christ Himself is more than possible. Why should it not be so? And why should you not both look to this dreadful time as the beginning of some new step in the growing joy and glory of life? I hope you may thus find more than consolation." CHAPTER IV A PERIOD OF VOCATIONAL PREPARATION 1862-1867 A Study in Biography On graduation from college I felt very tired of recitation and lecture rooms. In longing for a change I was glad of the opportunity to spend a year with my father in work upon the letters, correspondence, and papers of his father. Dr. Jedediah Morse, in preparation for the writing of a biography of him by Dr. William B. Sprague. It was a year spent in useful investigation of a period of history from 1783 to 1820, looked at from the point of view occupied by a prominent New England clergyman, identified with an unusually wide range of influential activities in church and state. It made upon me an indelible impression concerning my grandfather, and the lessons of his life, con- taining as they did the message of a broad and progressive fellowship with workers within the evangelical churches; and an equally broad and progressive program for the extension of the Kingdom -of Christ in our own country and throughout the world. What I have said of him elsewhere in this narra- tive fails to describe the real dimensions of the man and his life work. During this year I taught a class of boys in the Sunday school of the Madison Square Presbyterian Church of New York. Of this school William E. Dodge, Jr. was then the superintendent. In attending both the school and the teachers' meetings I became better acquainted with one whom I had known as the son of his honored father, whose name he bore, and also as a member and leading officer in my home church. As a young man he was already prominent among the city's men of public spirit. In the heat of the Civil War he was active among the younger merchants, who, with his father and 47 48 My LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN other older men, were identified with the United States Sani- tary and Christian Commissions. Earlier in his life he had been active in the Young Men's Christian Association of the city. A few years later he was to undertake what was prob- ably the greatest among his many acts of distinguished service, by accepting the presidency of the New York City Association, and causing it under his leadership to become the leading and most influential Association in the world brotherhood to which it belonged. The second Bible class which I taught this year was much larger than the first, and was composed wholly of adults. It was taught for four months in the Presbyterian Church at Easthampton, Long Island, and brought me into vital relation with a church and people of the sort that I hoped and prayed I might become fit to serve as pastor. An Expekiencb as a Teacher The two following years were spent very profitably in teach- ing as a private tutor in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Throop Martin of Willowbrook on Owasco Lake near Auburn, New York. Only a teacher knows and appreciates how much more he is learning than the most proficient student he is instruct- ing. My star pupil was an interesting character. The young- est son of a family of ten children in this home in the country, he bore the name of an intimate friend and former partner of his father. He is now widely known as Edward Sanford Martin. Then at the age of eight he was a boy of very bright promise. It was a pleasure to teach him the rudiments, but especially to introduce him to what was more interesting to teacher and pupil, Macaulay's "Lays of Ancient Rome" and the appealing characters they contained. He laid hold with special feeling and enthusiasm on that fiery steed of whom it was declared, "Black Auster was the fleetest steed from Aufi- dus to Po !" His recitation of this and other poems was accom- plished with an appreciation which gave them new meaning to his sympathetic family and audience. Mr. Martin's well selected library was composed of several thousand volumes. Much to my own profit, the cataloguing of these books was undertaken. Title page acquaintance with each volume was superficial, but the total knowledge of books A PERIOD OP VOCATIONAL PREPARATION 49 which was acquired proved valuable. During my first year in this library, more historical reading was accomplished than in any other equal period of my life. It was chiefly European, with a glance at ancient and American history. Historical novels by Walter Scott and other authors also illuminated my path. During the second year of teaching the studies pursued dur- ing the first year at the Theological Seminary were mastered. In struggling with the Hebrew grammar and text, valued help was received by a visit each week to my friend and classmate, Henry S. Barnum, then a student at Auburn Seminary, and later for over forty years a leader among missionaries in the Turkish Empire. At the beginning of my work as a teacher, I had transferred my membership from the Church of Christ in Yale College to the Eeformed Dutch Church on Lake Owasco, where I became a member of the Consistory or Governing Board, and engaged in church work and in holding Sunday services in the country neighborhood. Theological Studies The next two years were spent in theological study in Union and Princeton Seminaries with Henry Stebbins again as class- mate and roommate. During the first year in New York our instructors were Professors Henry B. Smith, Koswell D. Hitchcock, W. G. T. Shedd, and Thomas H. Skinner. We also united in taking charge of a mission chapel in Brooklyn, each preaching on alternate Sundays and both engaging in pastoral work. At the close of the year in our work of prepa- ration, we felt the need of concentrating upon a more exclu- sively studious program and agreed to join the senior class at Princeton for our last year of seminary work 1866-7. Here we carried out a strenuous schedule, attending both the Middle and Senior year lectures of Professors William Henry Green, Caspar W. Hodge, and Charles Hodge. During this year an incident occurred of peculiar signifi- cance in its relation to my life work. The pulpit at Easthamp- ton, Long Island, where I had served as a Bible class teacher, was vacant, and, on request from the session to the Pastoral Professor at Princeton, one of our class was sent as a candi- 50 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN date and accepted a call from the church some months before we finished our course of study at the Seminary. For the supply of his pulpit while he was completing his studies he called on some of his classmates, and I gladly consented at his request to spend a Sunday at Easthampton, where I had not been since the summer of 1863. It was a pleasant visit among old friends, and at its close the leading member and oflftcer of the church told me that in seeking a pastor, at the outset they had made inquiry for me, owing to their knowledge of my intention to study for the ministry. They were incorrectly informed that I had given up the thought of entering that call- ing, so they had ceased to look for me. If their search had been successful and the call had come it certainly would have been accepted, for during the entire period of preparatory study no other thought had been entertained by me, than that of entering the pulpit and pastorate as soon as the way should open. Such an acceptance therefore, would have turned me so far from the path followed at the close of that year and afterward that the Young Men's Christian Association could not have sought and found me for the lifelong service since rendered in response to its call. But at that time the interview with my friend caused me to leave Easthampton with a decided feeling of disappointment. The backward look into a remote past, how- ever, often reveals to us a divine leading which at the time we did not — probably could not — discern. It was a very pleasant and profitable year that we spent at Princeton. We took our meals with a small group of fellow students, among the members of which were John Sparhawk Jones — already giving promise of the rare and eminent service he rendered in the pulpit — Timothy G. Darling, afterward one of Princeton's very best gifts to its neighbor seminary at Auburn; and James S. Dennis, soon to enter on his long and useful career as missionary and author. He was the son of a wealthy business man. His decision to become a foreign missionary made a deep impression upon this inner circle of friends and classmates, and caused each one of us prayerfully to consider the call to the foreign field. It was a deliberation which permanently deepened my interest in the work upon that field. From boyhood I had attended and been familiar with "the monthly concert of prayer" for A PERIOD OF VOCATIONAL PREPARATION 51 foreign missions and missionaries, whicli was widely observed in the churches, and also with my father's often expressed will- ingness to be represented on the foreign mission field by his children. Two of his grandchildren are now (1917) on that field. In later years, in an intimate connection with the Stu- dent Volunteer Movement, I have often recurred to the decision of 1867 with the conviction that if at that time the claims of the foreign field had been presented to me vividly and intelligently as they are now urged upon students I certainly would have become a Student "Volunteer. One Monday at dinner, Darling reported having spent the previous Sunday in New York, and the interest he had taken in a sermon he had heard on the text: "There is none other Name given among men, whereby we must be saved." He outlined the sermon to us, saying that, much to his surprise, there was very little in the preacher's treatment of this funda- mental theme to which he could make serious objection. He ended by telling us that the preacher was Dr. Henry W. Bel- lows, then pastor of the leading Unitarian Church in New York City. Two years later I was reminded of this incident when, as a reporter for the press, I attended the sessions of a Unitarian Convention, held in the Church of the Messiah, in New York. During a discussion of the adoption by the Convention of some suitable form of credal statement, one speaker in a very posi- tive tone was taking the ground that an all sufficient statement would be the first and second commandments, enjoining love to God and to our neighbor. Seated in the gallery and look- ing down on the heads of delegates in the front pews of the church, I recognized among these the familiar form of Dr. Bellows, and I noticed that beneath his thin grey hair there was, as the speaker proceeded, a growing redness, indicating excitement on his part, as clearly as if I could have seen his face. As the speaker finished. Dr. Bellows very promptly gained the floor, and with a rare combination of earnestness and eloquence took the position that he could never give assent to any such proposal as was now being considered unless it contained the name of Jesus Christ, and mention of the supremacy of our relation to Him. During the year 1866 my roommate and I had been taken 52 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN under the care of the Third Presbytery, of New York City. It was a New School Presbytery, the approaching reunion between the Old and New School not yet having been con- summated. During our year at Princeton Seminary, after due examination, we were licensed to preach by this Presbytery. At the close of the Seminary year and of our examinations at Princeton, soon after we received our diplomas, a cordial invita- tion was sent by our classmates at Union Seminary whose time of graduation had not yet arrived, to join them in their closing examinations and earn a diploma at Union also. They were joined in this request by the professors and we heartily consented to this brotherly proposal, and thus graduated with diplomas from both Seminaries. When a few years later the reunion of the Old and New School Presbyterian Churches and Assemblies was consummated, and the two seminaries were placed under the charge of the one united Assembly, thus created, we looked upon our equal relation to both Seminaries as having been one of the signs of the happy approach of this significant reunion. In the review of these critical formative years I become devoutly grateful for the opportunities enjoyed of listening so often to the elect men who made most impression upon me in connection with the calling I had chosen: William Adams, my family pastor ; Horace Bushnell, my first pastor at school ; Professors W. G. T. Shedd, Austin Phelps, and Edwards Park at Andover; President Woolsey, and Professors Goodrich, Fisher, Noah Porter, and Thomas Thacher at Yale; Henry Ward Beecher, Richard S. Storrs, Stephen H. Tyng, and Pro- fessors Henry B. Smith, Roswell D. Hitchcock, W. G. T. Shedd, Charles Hodge, William Henry Green, and Casper W. Hodge and, as a teacher of Hebrew from the foreign missionary field, the venerable Dr. C. V. A. Vandyke, of Syria. A Beginning in Journalism In the spring of 1867, at the age of twenty-six, and at the close of my Seminary studies, I arrived at what proved to be a marked turning point in the path of preparation I was pursuing. This was due to a wholly unexpected call which demanded serious consideration. An important change in the editorial stafif of the New York A PERIOD OF VOCATIONAL PRE3PARATI0N 53 Observer was being discussed by the proprietors. The paper was in a very prosperous condition. Its circulation was large and its influence more widely felt than at any time since its establishment by my father and uncle in 1823. The two brothers had continued principal proprietors of the paper until 1858, when my father sold his interest to my older brother, Sidney E. Morse, Jr., of the Yale class of 1856. He became publisher of the paper. My uncle disposed of his equal interest in the property to Eev. Dr. Samuel Irenaeus Prime, who continued, as he had been for many years, the chief editor, having as his associate his younger brother, Dr. Edward D. G. Prime. For ten years, eventful in the history of the Church and the country, the paper had prospered under the able management of the two proprietors. It seemed to all members of both families a partnership so well established that it was destined to last many years longer. After some time spent in Europe, Dr. Irenaeus Prime in 1867 was raising the question with his associates of a more pro- longed absence from the offlce. This led to a desire for some addition to the editorial staff and as a candidate for the posi- tion, upon whom all parties were agreed, I was asked to become in this way identified with religious journalism for a term of years at the beginning of my ministerial life, and as an integral part of it. No definite offer could yet be made to me by the management of the paper, but in the spring of 1867, as I was setting out for Europe upon another errand, my brother as publisher of the paper asked me whether, if their plans should so mature that an official call came to me, I would reply favorably. In such an event I consented to send the reply desired. The errand upon which I had already arranged to cross the Atlantic that spring had been suggested by my father and related to a trip abroad with a cousin of my own age and a friend of his. It was my second visit to Europe. Both were due to my father's belief in the educational benefit of such travel. After a strenuous but happy tour through both the Scotch and English lakes, following the beaten tourist pathway of the Shakespeare country, Kenilworth, Warwick, Blenheim, and Oxford, we reached London, where we spent two weeks, and then crossed the channel to Paris. 54 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN It was the year of a remarkable World's Exposition in that city and we spent two weeks in a more thorough visitation of its contents than I have ever had time and opportunity to give to any one of its successors on either side of the Atlantic. We had maintained a strenuous pace of travel, studying economy in our ambition to make the amount of our allowance cover as wide travel as possible and extend the tour to Italy, Egypt, and Palestine. But at Paris, late in July, the official proposal from the Observer office was received. Dr. Irenaeus Prime met me in Paris and after carefully going over the subject with him, I accepted the position of assistant editor. There was time only for me to take a brief trip up the Rhine and through Switzerland, before reaching home. in September. Then I began work in the editorial office of the Observer under the direction and in helpful fellowship with Dr. Edward Prime, who was in editorial charge of the paper during his elder brother's prolonged absence in Europe. The work of religious journalism was entered upon with the desire and purpose to find in it, as many other clergymen had found, the best opportunity for them to accomplish the object of their ministerial calling. It was evident that my first efforts would be those of a novice seeking the training and experience necessary to editorial success. For many years the Observer's constituency of readers had belonged chiefly within the Presbyterian churches, but a portion of its columns, according to the original design of its founders, was set apart for news from the various denominations. Items for this department were gleaned from the daily press, and especially from the religious papers representing the various churches concerning which news was desired. In undertaking this department, I became quite fully ac- quainted with the religious press of all the denominations and interested in the work accomplished by their clergy and churches. In reporting in the Observer all important religious, meetings that one person could attend each week, my attention was confined to no one group or denomination. One of my classmates in Union Seminaiy, Eev. Joseph J. Lampe, had become pastor of a mission chapel on the West Side of the city, connected with the Brick Church on Fifth Avenue. On Sunday I attended this chapel and whenever other A PERIOD OF VOCATIONAL PREPARATION 55 duties allowed, the weekly prayer meetings. The work deeply interested me, sharing as I did the desire and conviction of my friend the pastor, that this and kindred city mission under- takings of the prosperous, self-supporting churches should be developed under a policy and program which would make these chapelSj with their adherents, self-supporting churches. In this conviction at that time we were strengthened by the fel- lowship and sympathy of several young chapel pastors, with whom we became acquainted. Dr. Irenaeus Prime returned from Europe soon after I began work in the Oiserver oflflce and contributed to the value of the experience and training I was receiving. The editorial con- duct of the paper by himself and brother, the equally excellent and enterprising management of the publishing department by my brother, made the Observer office, in those palmy days of its usefulness, an admirable place for me to gain knowledge and experience for that life work which was ahead of me, but of the nature of which as yet I had no knowledge and of which for some time I was to continue ignorant. CHAPTER V BEGINNING OF CONNECTION WITH THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 1867-1872 Continued Relations with The New York Observer A first step toward what was to prove my life work was unwittingly taken by Dr. Irenaeus Prime and myself in Octo- ber, 1867, when he said to me: "A convention is called by the Young Men's Christian Association to meet in this city, at Dr. Rogers' church, and I want you to make a report, not in the regular stereotyped fashion, but so that people will want to read the story." This led me to go to the first of that multitude of Young Men's Christian Association conferences and conventions which I have attended in this and many lands. Adopting a method used at that period in other states, the New York City Association, of which William E. Dodge, Jr. was the President and Robert R. McBurney the Secretary, had sent out a call for this "First Christian Convention of the State of New York." It was sent to "the pastors and brethren" throughout the state. This took place over two years before the city Associa- tion had a building of its own in which it was carrying on a fourfold work for young men. For thirty years afterward, McBurney continued its Secre- tary, but the New York City Association never again called together a convention of this sort. This one was being held toward the close of a period out of which the North American Associations were passing into one of more concentration upon their distinctive work for young men. Among the speakers at this Convention were Dwight L. Moody from Chicago, H. Thane Miller from Cincinnati — ^who had been President of the last two International Conventions, and was to be re-elected by two more in the future — L. P. Rowland, Librarian and Secretary of the Boston Association, and others who were already prominent in the work and in the 66 BEGINNING OF CONNECTION WITH ASSOCIATION 57 Conventions. From among the clergy Drs. Howard Crosby, Duryea, Waterbury, and others took active part. William E. Dodge, Jr. presided. For the first time I was listening to Association leaders and workers and became much interested in them and their message. They impressed me by their evan- gelistic enthusiasm, and equally by the sanity and charm of their pointed and terse language. Moody especially made this impression. He spoke often, but rarely in each instance for more than five minutes. At that time he expressed the con- viction that this was a limit which should be habitually ob- served by all speakers in religious meetings. I felt challenged to prepare a report for the Observer which should give some idea of the unusually interesting features of these meetings. Dr. Prime assured me that the report met his expectations, and he gave it a prominent place in the issue of that week. What proved of far more account was that the wording and tone of this report arrested the attention of Secretary Mc- Burney strongly enough to cause him to come to the oflflce and make inquiry as to who wrote it. With a characteristic persistency he sought me out as a desirable young man to get acquainted with. So we began a blessed fellowship which is never to end. Soon after, I joined the Association and began to take part in its activities, in addition to the mission chapel and church work in which I was enlisted. Only very little knowledge of the Association had come to me before this time. It was soon after graduating from college that I first heard the name of it from my father. At that time (1862) the parent Association in London was eighteen years old. The North American Move- ment had been in existence eleven years, and, older than either, I had nearly attained the age of twenty-one. In my father's library were a number of good books which he was desirous of giving to some collection, in which they would be of value. Following a suggestion he had received, he offered them to the Young Men's Christian Association. If only I had gone with him that summer day in 1862 to the Bible House, where the Association was then occupying two rooms, I should have enjoyed a first meeting with Kobert McBurney. Years afterward in our strenuous work together, be recalled the incident a^ having been the only occasion when 68 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN he met my father. For it was only a few years after this, in September, 1868, that his life on earth ended at Kissingen, Germany, where he had gone for the benefit of his health. He passed away a few days after the youngest of his five sons became of age. On the birthday of this son, September 18th, in playful mood he had said to him — the only one of his nine children living who was with him — "Today I cease to have any authority over you. Now you can do as you please." Three weeks before this he had been in health vigorous enough to walk to the summit of the Rigi in Switzerland. His nine chil- dren then living survived him in an unbroken company for over twenty years, gratefully and lovingly cherishing his memory. In the summer of 1862 McBurney began his life work as the employed executive ofBce'r of the New York City Association. Three years afterward, an errand led me to the rooms of the Association, for which an attractive equipment had been pro- vided with the cooperation of the Association's Treasurer, J. Pierpont Morgan. This better accommodation was one result of the new regime on which the Association had entered with its new Secretary. This first visit to an Association was the occasion of my first meeting with Robert McBurney, neither of us dreaming of the many happy years we were to spend together as intimate friends and sympathetic fellow workers. A year later, in New Haven, I heard delegates report on the recent International Convention of 1866 in Albany, from which they had just returned. These young men impressed me favor- ably with their enthusiasm and the good report they brought of the spirit and character of the proceedings and the work represented. Of this historic Convention and of the leadership there of Cephas Brainerd, Robert R. McBurney, Thane Miller, Elihu Root, John Wanamaker, General O. O. Howard, James Stokes, Jr., and others, I was soon to learn, and to appreciate how, under this strong leadership, there was to date from this Convention, throughout the North American Associations, a growing concentration upon work for young men, a permanent convention committee upon the report and work of the Inter- national Committee, the calling by that Committee of State and Provincial Conventions, the location of the Committee in New York City, the observance of the November Week of Prayer, and the continued supremacy of the distinctively reli- Robert R. McBiteney BEGINNING OF CONNECTION WITH ASSOCIATION 59 gious work among young men. At this time I became an active member and began to take a practical interest in tlie work. In the summer of 1868 McBurney returned from the Detroit Convention, influenced by the accounts given there of open-air meetings held in other cities. He felt that similar meetings might be wisely undertaken in New York and asked me to lend a hand in this endeavor. Very doubtful of my ability to do what he desired, I refused to speak, but promised to be one of the group of workers who were to attend the first meeting. It was held in Washington Square and while it was in progress, I felt moved to ask for an opportunity to speak. I had never before presented the gospel message with so vivid a conscious- ness that many listeners might be hearing that message for the first time. This experience led to my serving as a member, and then as Chairman of the Open-Air Committee for several years, until continuous absence from the city prevented the continuance of this service. In the year 1868, Association oflScers, members, and friends were soliciting the funds needed to erect at the corner of 23rd Street and Fourth Avenue, the first building procured by the New York Association. At McBurney's suggestion I sought from my brother-in-law, Samuel Colgate, who was a charter member, his generous contribution to this fund. Of the amount needed— $487,000— 1337,000 was raised before the completion of the building, and the balance was secured by a mortgage on the property. Toward lifting this mortgage William E. Dodge, Jr., who had already given the largest contribution (|25,000) received from any donor, placed in the Association safe a pledge of one third — |i50,000 — of the mortgage. The amount was payable when the balance should be subscribed. Six years later this pledge was a strong factor in securing the balance and removing the mortgage. In the same year, on October 31, 1868, I was present, as a reporter for the Observer, at the laying of the corner stone of this historic building. As I listened to the vigorous addresses of Dr. Stephen Tyng, Dr. John Hall, and others, I little thought this building was to be my dwelling place for some years and for a yet longer time would contain the office where would center the most strenuous work of my life. 60 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN In the summer of 1869 I was completing a second year of editorial experience. My interest in the Association and its work had steadily increased. Though absent from the annual Conventions, the story of the important meeting in the summer of 1868 at Detroit was attentively read and reported. Yet more interesting were the proceedings of the Convention of 1869 at Portland, Maine, where William E. Dodge, Jr., presided and the Evangelical Church Test of active membership was adopted as a condition of representation in future Conventions. In the weekly press of the evangelical churches, this action was widely and favorably commented upon. The best friends and supporters of the Association approved, and many others who had been of doubtful mind by this action were persuaded of the genuinely loyal and vital relation of the Association to the churches. During the summer another action taken by the Convention of 1869 was brought to my attention. McBurney called at the Observer ofiQce to say that the Convention had instructed its Committee to secure a secretary and editor, with a first emphasis on his editorial qualification. The Committee had voted to ask me to take this position, and to edit a monthly paper to take the place of the small quarterly magazine, which for some time they had been circulating. The opportunity thus offered strongly appealed to me. It presented itself chiefly as a journalistic opportunity. Of the origin and history of the Association and of the development of its work I knew little. Its interdenominational platform and constituency were congenial and attractive. Also, as a citizen whose home for all his life had been in New York City, I realized the new position, influence, and standing which the Association was gaining by the acquisition of its new building, under the management of such men of ability and leadership as William E. Dodge, Jr., President; Morris K. Jesup, Vice- President; J. Pierpont Morgan, Treasurer; and their fellow Directors: Cephas Brainerd, John Crosby Brown, James Stokes, Jr., Dr. C. E. Agnew, Charles E. Whitehead, William F. Lee, Charles Lanier, Thatcher M. Adams, and their associ- ates. Among the latter of maturer age and reputation, were the more elderly men serving on the Board of Trustees: Jona- than Sturges, Frederick Marquand, James M. Brown, and BEGINNING OF CONNECTION WITH ASSOCIATION 61 James Stokes. With the leaders of this exceptionally strong city organization was intimately allied the International Com- mittee, from which this offer of an editorial position came to me. Its leading members-^Cephas Brainerd, Chairman, Wil- liam F. Lee, Treasurer, Robert R. McBurney, and James Stokes, Jr. — were also directors of the city Association. Though not an active member of the Committee, William E. Dodge, Jr. had been elected an honorary member and was a strong supporting and counselling friend. He had that year rendered a distinguished service by presiding at the Interna- tional Convention. He and Messrs. Stokes and Adams were the three persons connected with the Association whom I had known from boyhood, as they were members of the church with which my family were identified. The eminent pastor of this church. Dr. William Adams, was among the strongest friends and supporters of the Association, thoroughly sympathetic with Mr. Dodge, and with other leading members of his church, including his own son, who were strongly identified with this organization on behalf of young men. The position in Christian journalism offered to me seemed to give promise of "wider dimensions and influence than the one I then occupied. But, as the result proved, it was also a much more experimental undertaking, for the Association paper lived only a few years, while the Observer continued its useful career for many years beyond its approaching Jubilee in 1873. After due consultation with my brother, then absent in Europe, and with his partners in the Observer, I worked out and submitted to the Committee a plan for the contents of a periodical of twenty-four quarto pages. At a meeting to consider this plan it met with their approval, and shortly afterward I accepted the position which had been offered to me. Period of Editorship op the Association Monthly Dec. 1, 1869-Dec. 1, 1871 First Number of the "Association Monthly" The International Convention of 1869 had defined the oflBcer needed by the Committee as "a person to act as secretary and perform editorial duties." I was asked to become "Editor and General Secretary," but in the terms of agreement made be- tween us, the whole emphasis was upon such a responsibility 62 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN for the entire management of the paper, including its publish- ing department, as made my relation to the secretarial oflflce a very subsidiary one. There was some discussion about the name to be given to the new paper or magazine. A friend sug- gested the initials "Y. M. 0. A." as letters of unmistakable meaning, and indicating a name destined, as we all believed, to growing good repute in church and state, a belief which has been fully justified. "Young Manhood" and "Christian Manhood" were also considered, but the decided preference of our counsellor, William E. Dodge, Jr., prevailed in selecting the name of "Association Monthly." In the new building the Board of Directors granted to the Committee for its office a room (16x20 ft.), corresponding in size and position to that occupied by the Association's Secre- tary. It was on the floor above and immediately over that office. For the following eighteen years this abiding place was granted to the Committee free of rent, a generous gift unob- trusively bestowed and not published until the close of the period by either Committee or Association. During the year 1870 I probably gave to this journalistic undertaking more strenuous and engrossing labor than at any time since I have had the strength to give to any other under- taking. Then all who were most intimately connected with it thought the time had come when Association members and friends would give needed support to a periodical of the kind proposed. The January number gave general satisfaction. On its first quarto page was a picture of the new Association building, dedicated the previous month. Dr. Prime, of the New York Observer, was not the only prominent editor who ranked the building among the finest in the city. It had been erected at a cost of nearly half a million dollars. Four times that amount expended now (1917) on an Association building in New York would not give it the standing accorded to that initial building forty-eight years ago. When I called upon the eminent pastor of the Tabernacle, Dr. Joseph P. Thompson, for an article in the Monthly he re- plied favorably with a page on "The Association iu Architec- ture." In this he expressed the conviction that this novel edifice was worthy of a place in that historic succession of buildings which, during the Christian centuries, the Church BEGINNING OF CONNECTION WITH ASSOCIATION 63 had erected from age to age in wise effort to adapt her gospel message to the wants and needs of each generation. In this succession he enumerated the basilica church of the first cen- turies, the monastery and cathedral of the middle age, the Puritan meeting-house of the reformation era, the Wesley chapel, the Sunday school room, and the press rooms of the Bible and Tract Societies! Mrs. Elizabeth Prentiss, whose recently published story "Stepping Heavenward" was being widely read, and who was eagerly sought by the religious press as a contributor, consented to begin a serial story in this first number of the paper. Dr. John Hall, Dr. William Adams, Dr. John McClintock, and other leading clergymen were among the contributors. Another valued article in the first number was written by Dr. Martin B. Anderson, first President (1853-88) of Rochester, N. Y., University. During my connection with the Observer I had been deeply interested in hearing and reporting a thoughtful address from him upon the value, as a unity promot- ing agency, of the literature slowly created and widely cir- culated by the British and American Tract Societies. This led to my becoming very pleasantly acquainted with Dr. Ander- son. One point of strong sympathy between us was the valua- tion we both placed upon the Association as an agency ad- mirably adapted to the use of Christian students in school and college. Since my first connection with McBurney and the working committees he organized I had admired the wise distribution of responsibility in Christian work which was thus accom- plished. The sum of good work was substantially increased as workers were multiplied and distributed. This excellent method, I remembered, was followed by Yale students in their literary, fraternity, and athletic organizations. In these official responsibility was distributed from year to year. But in their religious work Christian students at Yale, I saw clearly, were not as wisely following this method. Dr. Anderson said that for years he had favored the forming of a Student Association at Rochester University. Since 1862 it had been accomplish- ing an effective work as an interdenominational student agency. His convictions on this line led me to obtain from him for the first number of the Monthly an article in which he strongly 64 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN advocated the formation of "Associations in all schools, from the academy to the professional school inclusive." This first number also contained reports of Student Association dele- gates to the Massachusetts Convention from Williams and Am- herst Colleges. For the second number I secured from the undergraduate president of the Eochester University Associa- tion, Mr. Edward Gates, a report of the excellent practical work accomplished by the Eochester students. He wrote: "Mem- bership in some evangelical church is a condition to election, but all are made heartily welcome. We have a commodious room tastefully furnished and over sixty members, being a majority of the students in college. Some who are Christians but not yet church members heartily cooperate with us. Several mission Sunday schools and even churches have been started by our members and we are all connected with Sabbath schools or Bible classes in the city churches where we worship." In the May number of the Monthly a similar report is given of the Washington and Lee (Virginia) Association. These articles attracted the attention of Professor A. K. Spence, of the University of Michigan. Some years before the Eochester University Association had been formed, he had been the leader in organizing (1857-8) an Association in his own university; so that for twelve years he had been actively identified with the work as a cooperating member of the faculty. Like Presi- dent Anderson, and some years before him, he was an ardent advocate of this form of student work. At the International Convention of 1868 in Detroit he had introduced a resolution commending this work, but the Committee on Eesolutions failed to report it for action by the delegates. Professor Spence was not discouraged. He noticed with interest the advocacy of the student work in the Monthly, corresponded with its editor, and at his request prepared an article upon "The Association in Colleges and Schools." This was illustrated by reference to the excellent work at Michigan University. He followed up his article by attending the Convention of 1870. This time his resolution was passed in the following form: "This con- vention hails with joy the organization in some academies and colleges of Young Men's Christian Associations and hopes that these may be planted wherever practicable in our academies, colleges, and universities." BEGINNING OF CONNECTION WITH ASSOCIATION 65 This was my first International Convention. There I met for the first time Professor Spence and my associate, Robert Weidensall. One result of the action of the Convention was that Weidensall as its agent began in that year to regard as one feature of his remarkable pioneer work the organization of Student Associations. In the pathway of this work was found and won the pioneer International Secretary of the Intercollegiate Association Movement/ Luther D. Wishard. More than ever I now became desirous of promoting at Yale this Association method of student work. But in 1870 I was too engrossed in what I had undertaken to give the time and attention needed for this endeavor, and some years passed before the desired opportunity was presented. Growth of the "Association Monthly" The columns of the Monthly devoted to "News of the Associa- tions" were very acceptable. In securing this intelligence I became more familiar than any one else with the number, standing, and activities of the Associations, and also with the leaders and workers at home and abroad. To the Conven- tion of the previous summer the Committee had brought re- ports from three hundred and twenty-four Associations, two hundred and sixteen of which reported fifty thousand members. Of these, twenty-five per cent (eighty-one) now, 1917, have ceased to exist. All but twelve occupied rented rooms, most •of them poorly located and equipped. Twelve owned buildings valued at |1,400,000 of which five — located in New York, Wash- ington, Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Francisco — were valued at 11,200,000. Pictures of these five buildings were given on the front page in successive issues of the Monthly. A building illustra- tion was given on the front page of every issue during the twenty-four months of my editorship. To do this I found it necessary to secure pictures of some Association buildings from the other side of the Atlantic. The one in San Francisco contained a gymnasium which was maintained for a few years. Owing to various embarrassments, the debt on the building, valued at |100,000, was gradually increased to over |80,000 and the work practically suspended, until in 1880-81, when by > Pp.95, 161-9. 66 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN the joint effort of Dwight L. Moody and the International Committee the work was reestablished on a permanent basis. The principal feature of the Chicago building was an im- mense hall, in which every Sunday, Moody, who was President and also acting General Secretary, held an evangelistic service for the general public. He was here beginning that beneficent life work as an evangelist which was soon to engross his time and eflfort. In order more correctly to define its work, the Chicago Association at this time had changed its constitution and stated as its object not "the improvement of the spiritual, intellectual, and social condition of young men," but "the spiritual, intellectual, and social improvement of all within its reach, irrespective of age, sex, or condition." During this year I visited Chicago for the first time. The contrast between the building with which I was most familiar and the one in Chicago deeply impressed me. Of the five principal buildings which have been mentioned, and of all the buildings then owned and occupied by Associations in the world brotherhood, the building in New York was the only one planned, erected, and equipped to accommodate the dis- tinctive, fourfold work of the Association — spiritual, social, intellectual, physical — and so manned by laymen and em- ployed officers of fine qualification that the work then begun has ever since been continued, developed, and extended in this city by a series of later buildings, the equipment of which has been steadily improved from decade to decade. This New York building was therefore the first of its class, and was of a pattern which from that time has been followed throughout the world brotherhood. One of the latest born of its children is the building on Tottenham Court Road, London, dedicated in 1912 as the first building erected by the parent Association in that city to accommodate the fourfold work. It was some time after this work had been defined and domesti- cated in a building of its own that attention was called to a scriptural definition of it in the life of our Lord (Luke 2: 52) : "Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man" — words fitly describing His growth physically, intellectually, spiritually, and in social disposition and service. In preparation for the erection of this initial building in New York, and before the State Legislature in April, 1866, was BEGINNING OF CONNECTION WITH ASSOCIATION 67 asked for an Act of Incorporation, a change suggested by Presi- dent Dodge was made in the constitution of the New York Association, by adding the word "physical" to the definition of its object. This was accordingly stated to be : "The improve- ment of the spiritual, mental, social, and physical condition of young men." It was the first Association Constitution in the world to contain the word "physical" and thus to complete the definition of the fourfold work. This remarkable new de- parture had not been undertaken without thoughtful and thorough preparation by President Dodge, Secretary Mc- Burney, and their associates. In forecasting and formulating the fourfold work fhey had realized that the building required for it would be so novel and of such dimensions that an in- telligent, stimulating conviction of the need for the work in it must be created. After careful deliberation, a committee of the Directors, composed of Cephas Brainerd and Secretary McBurney, prepared a remarkable document setting forth what was being done in the city to wreck young men. It was a survey of scientific excellence. On the basis of the alarming facts thus disclosed and confidentially circulated, appeal was made for the Association as a competing agency of beneficent intent, seeking to provide what was best and most elevating for young men. The investigation was so thorough, the appeal so urgent, and the Directors and Secretary so efficient in the advocacy of the cause, that the large sum of money needed, nearly $500,000, was provided. Equal wisdom and ability were shown in planning the new building, and equipping it with reading and social rooms, library, class rooms, gymnasium, and hall, all opening into a central reception room — the architectural and social pivot, about which all the activities within the whole structure re- volved. On this spot just inside the door of entrance to the reception room, I stood with visitors scores of times, explain- ing the plan of the building and the varied work radiating from this central point of view. Editorial Experience and Association Friendships These two editorial years I spent more uninterruptedly than at any other period, day and night, week-day and Sunday, in the same Association building, giving time and effort as editor 68 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG ME^f and publisher to the work of establishing a periodical, self- supporting because of its circulation and advertisements, and of growing value to the Association brotherhood and its entire work, local. State, and International. All departments of this work were yet in the period of their early development. Some were just begun and yet more were to be organized. As publisher and editor, advertising agent and bookkeeper — and for a time ofiBce boy also — I soon found it necessary to secure lodging in the building. Editorial work and much of the correspondence and bookkeeping were accomplished in the oflBce, far into the night and early morning. The first printer I engaged was a beginner, and until his contract expired, in order to get the paper out on time it was necessary to spend an entire night each month in the printing room reading proof. Another unbroken night each month was spent in editorial work. When wisely and sanely remonstrated with about such overwork, I was ignorant and foolish enough to think the remonstrance unnecessary ! During this period also, an active interest was maintained in the work of the New York Association., where every evening was spent. After ten o'clock night literary work on the paper was begun and continued, as a rule, beyond midnight. This program gave me time and opportunity for attention to local Association work. As Chairman of the Committee on Social Religious Meetings, I took a special interest in the daily prayer meetings, the evening service — before closing the rooms at night — the Thursday and Saturday evening meetings and Sun- day afternoon services, consisting of gospel meetings and a large Bible class. These responsibilities kept me in vital touch with the aggres- sive religious work of the Association. The daily meeting in the parlors was attended by a group of earnest praying Chris- tian workers. In my own prayer life at this time a new emphasis on communion was experienced. Petition and inter- cession continued to have their place, but communion with our Lord became a gracious reality, beyond what had hereto- fore been granted me in prayer. For helpful devotional litera- ture and other guidance in this sacred experience I was deeply indebted to the motherly friendship of Mrs. Elizabeth Prentiss, then in the maturity of her ripe Christian experience, and BEGINNING OF CONNECTION WITH ASSOCIATION 69 whom as a contributor to the columns of the Monthly I had come to know also as a valued friend. Beginning with this period I became intimately associated with McBurney, a fellowship growing in intimacy and tender- ness until the end of his life on earth. I was more incessantly with him during these two years than afterward, because I was more uninterruptedly in New York. We took our meals to- gether morning, noon, and night. All my problems were his, and all his were mine. There was a sympathy and intercourse that grew out of both likeness and unlikeness of disposition, tastes, and opinions. This constitutes the best basis of enduring friendship. Acquaintance also with the problems and activities of both an Association and its General Secretary gave to me a knowledge and understanding of the local work and of the secretarial oflBce, which proved of incalculable value in all after life. They also helped me immensely in the work I was then doing. More than once I have heard him say to others : "The best thing I ever did was to get Mr. Morse into the work." Certainly the greatest blessing and help I ever received in the work from a fellow-worker came to me from him during the many years of our unbroken brotherly fellowship. With other Association leaders, older than myself, was begun during these years a growing and invaluable intercourse. Cephas Brainerd, Chairman of the Committee, was a lawyer of good standing and growing repute in his profession. He had been trained, not in the law school, but in the law office. Of the sixty years of his professional life in the city, the first twenty had now been spent in steadily fulfilling the promise he gave of eminence in his profession. He was also Sunday school superintendent and an oflBcer in the Seventh Presby- terian Church. Almost from his arrival in New York, a country boy from Haddam, Connecticut, he had been a member of the Associ ation. Very soon (1857) he was elected a director, an office which he held to the end of his life, a service of fifty-three years' duration. He was at this time (1869) in the third year of his virile and commanding Chairmanship of the In- ternational Committee, an office in which he completed a term of twenty-five years. During this entire period, he rendered incalculable service to the whole Association brotherhood. He 70 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN was giving his evenings, and not a few hours each week during the daytime, to the Association. It was a gift which called forth remonstrance from friends solicitous about his advance- ment in his profession. The third friend and fellow-worker has already been men- tioned, William E. Dodge, Jr., of whose practical sympathy, counsel, and help until the end of his life (1903) I received continued and valued evidence. These three friends — older brothers I might call them — had traveled to this period of our coming together, each by a path helpfully different from the one which I had followed. Trained in academy, college, and professional school, I had lived in a student atmosphere, under much older teachers and trainers, chiefly from the clerical profession of which I was now a youth- ful member in good and regular standing. Of these three friends, one was an able lawyer, on his way to eminence in his profession; another had been trained in the school of business and was already of high rank among merchants of the city; the third, my most intimate associate, had spent the last sixteen years — half of his life up to this time — in this country and city, at first in business life, and for the last eight years as the employed executive oflScer of the New York Association. He had gradually commanded the entire confidence of his strong fellow-workers, leading them, as well as being led by them, in creating this remarkable departure in Christian work. These three were all laymen in the Church. They were my seniors by only a few years, but were many years older than I in influential touch with men of affairs in business and professional life. They also represented to me the kind of laymen who had founded the American Associations, and as volunteers had wholly carried on the movement during the first period of its history. McBurney was one of the first and, moreover, represented the finest type of the few among those young laymen, who at the call of their Master and their fellow workers, were being led to devote their lives as executive employed officers, wholly and efficiently to this form of interdenominational church work. Without them the growth in number of these lay workers and the extension of the brotherhood and of its work was impracticable. With a steadily increasing number BEGINNING OF CONNECTION WITH ASSOCIATION 71 of Association laymen and employed ofScers I was now be- coming acquainted by correspondence, editing "The News of Associations" for the Monthly, and the limited amount of travel which I could be spared from the office to undertake. Although an office boy at first had been deemed unnecessary, I was soon able to secure a clerk, as a helper in keeping the books and looking after other details. The day of typewriter, stenographer, and telephone in our office work was not to arrive until after the lapse of many years. It was at this time that one day McBurney came into the office with a letter in his hand to announce with indignation the astonishing news that Tom Cree, General Secretary at Pittsburgh, with a false economy had employed a woman as a helper in the Association office. That the time would ever come when the New York Association and the International Committee would engage such an employe neither of us could then imagine, much less that McBurney would leave in his will a generous bequest to the stenographer who for many years had rendered him ac- ceptable service. The provision of a clerk made an occasional brief absence from the office practicable. At points easily accessible I was able to attend anniversaries and other Association meetings. In one instance Mr. Dodge had arranged that I should take an anniversary appointment where he had been expected, and sent a courteous letter to the President. Without knowledge of the contents of this letter, I was disconcerted when intro- duced by the long title given to me as follows, "The official representative of the Executive Committee of the Annual Convention of the Young Men's Christian Associations of the United States and the British Provinces." This long official name of the Committee had already become too burdensome for frequent use, and although continued on letterheads, and in other official connections, the adjective — International — was the only word commonly used to designate the Committee and the Convention until in 1879 it was formally adopted by the Convention and became its official title. Soon after it was used in obtaining the Act of Incorporation. First State Convention In April, 1870, the fifth month of my connection with the 72 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Committee, and before attending an International Convention, I attended in Marshalltown, as my first meeting with Asso- ciation delegates, the State Convention of Iowa. Twenty-one of the twenty-four Associations in Iowa were represented by seventy-five delegates and twenty corresponding members. I was not yet experienced enough in the work fitly to represent the Committee. It was deemed best for me to go, however, and the trip was certainly of great benefit to me, even if I shed no light of wisdom on the Convention. It was my first journey westward beyond Niagara Falls. At the suggestion of McBurney and Brainerd, I carried with me and read on the train, out of the scant Association literature of that day, reports of the British, European, and other Associations, in order to "get posted" for the service I was to render to our brethren west of the Mississippi River, in their difficult rudi- mentary problems ! The State Work had not yet begun to take definite form. This was the second annual meeting of the Iowa Associations. In no other state, west of Michigan and Indiana, had the corresponding member of the International Committee yet called a Convention. The Committee had two employed agents, but in no state or province had its Committee secured such an agent. It was necessarily a hurried journey, for I could be spared only for a week from the office. The Convention was in session less than two week days. My only tarrying place going or returning was a stop over Sunday on the journey westward at Chicago. I had visited London and Paris more than once, but this was my first visit to a city west of New York State. On this journey also for the first time I crossed the Mississippi River. The most significant event was a first personal meet- ing with Dwight L. Moody. The Chicago Association building I have already described. The barrenness of its equipment for the welcome of young men impressed me in contrast with what I was accustomed to. I arrived on Saturday in time to receive a cordial welcome from Mr. Moody. On Sunday evening I was one of his audience in the very large hall which was the main feature of the Associa- tion building. He read the story of the wicked King Manasseh, toward the close of whose reign occurred his repentance, a great revival, and the great reformation which he accomplished BEGINNING OF CONNECTION WITH ASSOCIATION 73 before the end of his life. I was deeply interested in the evan- gelistic message and appeal. I had not heard Mr. Moody since his visit to the New York Convention of 1867 which I reported in the Oiserver. Instead of the brief, pithy five-minute, anecdotal talks to which I then listened, I heard a much longer, more earnest appeal. An immediate practical response to this appeal was requested from an audience which had come to hear an evan- gelist who, as it appeared to me, was steadily growing in the study and knowledge of the Bible. This impression was con- firmed as I walked away from the meeting with him and Mrs. Moody. He talked with characteristic frankness of his work, and what he was attempting to accomplish. He was evidently not contented with the effort he had made that evening. He said, "For these Sunday evening meetings I prepare during each week, giving all the time I can. My wife tells me each Sunday how I have succeeded, for she knows better than I do. During the week I accept invitations to speak in other places and there I use what she says have been the best of my talks here." About the Association work in New York and elsewhere he inquired, also about our Committee, and the Monthly and my own work. He alluded to the fact that some had questioned whether there was call for the issue by the Committee of such a paper. I said I knew there was a divided sentiment about it, but this was not at all discouraging to me, and that I heartily believed a good work could be accomplished by the paper. I left Chicago feeling that he had not been in sympathy with the action taken at the last Convention, instructing the Committee to publish a monthly periodical. First International Convention The second meeting of Association delegates which I at- tended, met a few months later in Indianapolis (June 22-26, 1870). It was the fifteenth International Convention. I have attended every one since with a single early exception, that of 1872. The President chosen was John S. Maclean, a promi- nent merchant of Halifax, and the Association leader of our fellow workers in the Maritime Provinces. He was known as the Bishop of the Associations in that part of Canada, and 74 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN had right to the title. He was the first Canadian in the succes- sion of Convention Presidents. The most prominent delegate and speaker was D. L. Moody. It was the last Convention to which he came as a delegate and as President and Secretary of the Chicago Association. He was attracted by the singing of one of the delegates from Newcastle, Pennsylvania — Ira D. Sankey. An acquaintance was thus begun which ripened into a partnership in that mar- velous evangelistic work and message which brought untold blessing to the Church and the Association, and to whole communities on both sides of the Atlantic. He gave to the Convention its most stimulating spiritual message. His ad- dress at one of the eivening sessions was by far the most power- ful evangelistic appeal to which I had ever listened. Few, if any, of the delegates knew of the growing conviction he was cherishing even then concerning his separation to evangelistic work so exclusively as to postpone for eight years his attend- ance upon another International Convention. A very prominent delegate identified with the "Old Guard of Association Leaders," was George H. Stuart of Phila- delphia, then most widely known for his recent distinguished services during the Civil War as President of the United States Christian Commission — a Commission of which it has been said it was "the first organized attempt of the Protestant Church, on a large scale, to carry the Gospel to men under arms." It was an attempt initiated by the Young Men's Christian Association. Mr. Stuart himself was an Association veteran. In 1855 he was an American delegate to the first World's Conference at Paris. In 1859 he was President of the International Convention of that year, and in 1861 he was chairman of the International Committee, then located in Philadelphia. That Committee, at the request of the Army Committee of the New York City Association, called the Con- vention of that year. Mr. Stuart presided and also was chosen President of the Commission, and became its leading spirit and executive. He also presided at the International Conven- tion of 1863. No delegate was more honored than H. Thane Miller of Cincinnati. He had been enthusiastically chosen President of the three recent Conventions of 1866, '67, and '68. His friend BEGINNING OF CONNECTION WITH ASSOCIATION 75 Dr. Theodore L. Cuyler once said of him that though appar- ently blind he could see more clearly than most men who enjoyed the use of both eyes. In the succession of convention presidents, until his death in 1898, he is entitled to the first place. This preeminence was not due simply to his remarkable record as a presiding offlcer of these three critical Conventions, and also of a fourth in 1872. It was due also to the fact that, unlike other presidents, he afterward attended until his death every International Convention, and was cordially welcomed to the platform by each of his successors in office and by the delegates as really or virtually their honorary assistant Presi- dent. He was an inspiring leader in the service of song. There are hymns, to the musical rendering of which he so impressively introduced his fellow workers, that whenever and wherever afterward heard they are always a pleasing reminder of him. A leader in the convention period before the war, he was sympathetic with the diversified evangelistic work, and was eflScient in it. In this second period he was equally sym- pathetic with the steady trend toward concentration upon work among young men and with the objective of the Interna- tional Committee. He had rare faculty in so expressing this broad sympathy as to command the confidence of the entire brotherhood at each succeeding Convention during the trying transition from one period to the next. Coming from Cincin- nati, a city identified with the West, his voice and influence were of peculiar value to a Committee serving the whole coun- try, but with headquarters and a membership resident in the East. Another delegate, prominent in the Convention as Chairman of its Business Committee, was H. Kirke Porter of Pittsburgh, then at the beginning of his eminent business career. He had begun his long term of service as President of the Pittsburgh Association and was on his way to chairmanship of the Penn- sylvania Committee, presidency of the International Conven- tion of 1873 and membership in the International Committee for a term still unexpired, and which has now (1917) con- tinued for forty-two years. At this Convention, as already mentioned, I first met my associate, Robert Weidensall. Though neither of us yet were called Secretary, he for twenty and I for seven months had 76 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN been known as agents of the International Committee. In this period of his pioneer work he had organized eight Asso- ciations and helpfully visited many more. His time for labori- ous and eflScient State organization had not yet arrived. We were already acquainted by correspondence, and there began a brotherly fellowship as employed oflScers of the Committee, which has already lasted forty-seven years and continues with growing affection and helpful cooperation. Another delegate with whom I had corresponded, and whose friendship I was to enjoy for nearly forty years, on the staff of the Committee, was Thomas K. Cree, then Secretary of the Pittsburgh Association. As the Committee's corresponding member for Pennsylvania, he was beginning to give shape to that form of State work best adapted to create and foster efScient Associations. Another delegate from Pittsburgh, William K. Jennings, became a lifelong friend and fellow-worker. He was begin- ning his career as a lawyer, and also as a worker and officer for life in the Pittsburgh Association. He has been singularly efficient as a delegate in International Conventions and he has often rendered invaluable service to the whole brotherhood as chairman of the most important convention committees. An active working delegate, always at hand when needed, was George A. Hall, then General Secretary of the Washing- ton, D. C, Association, and soon to become the first State Secretary of New York. He and his senior, Samuel Taggart, were the strong pioneers among State Secretaries of the brotherhood. They were also trusted personal friends, whose memory it is a delight and an inspiration to cherish. Among the strong leaders of the first generation of Association Secre- taries, George Hall was conspicuously eflScient in leading men to devote their lives to the work. Not only because of the number he thus influenced, but because of the quality and rank of these men, he earned and deserved the title of "the Discov- erer of Secretaries." The primacy given in the mind and aspiration of these dele- gates to the work spiritual and evangelistic was by far the strongest impression I received at this first Convention. Some years afterward, in describing this impression, I wrote as follows : BEGINNING OP CONNECTION WITH ASSOCIATION 77 ^'Three strong spiritual personalities seemed to be the in- spiration of the movement and the delegates. During the pre- ceding four years the number of Associations reporting to the Convention had grown from sixty to three hundred, all of them, save two or three, located as yet in hired rooms. These three leaders were Dwight L. Moody, Thane Miller, and Robert McBurney. As many of the delegates spoke to me of previous Conventions, and of spiritual messages received there, it was evident that from these leaders spiritual power was going forth throughout the brotherhood. The strongest of these dynamos was Moody. The dates of all the New England State Conventions of that year were so adjusted to an eastern tour of his that he attended them all. Then followed his career as a world famous evangelist. During this career he was constantly repeating his testimony that in his training for Christian work he owed more to the Association than to any other agency. To this confession all the Associations along his path could reply that he was fully repaying that debt in what they were receiving from him in things spiritual and material. During the closing years of his life work it was on his own Northfield-Hermon campus that the Associations found the successor which God provided for us in the person of John R. Mott." In the business session the Association Monthly was the item in the report on the International Committee's Report which excited most discussion, as it had been the novel feature in the Committee's work of that year. There was some criti- cism. But financially, all expenses of the first five months had been paid from subscriptions and advertisements amounting to 14,182.17. Moody frankly confessed that he had been opposed to the issue of such a paper, but he had been entirely converted, and was ready to do what he could to extend its circulation. The Convention heartily authorized the continu- ance of the undertaking. All the proceedings were to me an absorbing study. Responsibility for a full report in the next issue of the Monthly increased this attention. I was deeply impressed with the important service Mc- Burney and Brainerd rendered, on the platform as occasion demanded, and yet more efficiently in vigilant attention to all that related to action taken by the Convention on points essen- tial to carrying on the work of its Committee — a work which preceding Conventions had begun and with the merits of which I was becoming acquainted. While emphasis on the spiritual 78 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN and evangelistic work was primary in the utterances of the delegates, that fourfold work for young men, with which I was familiar, seemed to me conspicuously absent from the experi- ence of these delegates. Yet this was the phase and method of work with which the Convention's Committee was most engrossingly identified and the study and extension of which •was its first objective. In four successive annual meetings (1866-1870) the Conventions had been content and united in encouraging the Committee to give a primary emphasis to promoting City Association Work upon this plan and program, which as yet was fully illustrated and visualized only in the city where the Convention's Committee was located. Nearly twenty years of strong leadership and endeavor were to pass before the whole city movement was homogeneously united upon the program of this work for young men and boys. There was in this broad work room and provision for the warmest religious evangelistic appeal combined with a hu- manitarian social-service emphasis upon a better environment for the tempted young man. It was this combination, so far as it had been partially developed in London, that so deeply impressed visiting American young men that they were not satisfied on their return home until they had begun in 1851 the reproduction of it in North America. At the Convention of 1864 one of the speakers had said he regarded as the first most important mission of the Association "the socializing of Christianity — practical Christianity." The fourfold work in its entirety and its best development gives the Association title as a pioneer in Christian social service. State Conventions During the latter part of this first year with the Committee, I attended the State Conventions of Connecticut, New Hamp- shire, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, meeting lead- ers and workers, with many of whom I had corresponded and from all of whom was gained valuable knowledge of the work and of the opinions and convictions held by those most active in it. During October, to all the New England State Conventions Moody was welcomed. Two of these I attended, and gained new impressions of his growing power as an evangelist, and BEGINNING OF CONNECTION WITH ASSOCIATION 79 also closer fellowship with him in the work of the Kingdom. It was his last visit to this section of the country, wholly upon the errand of Association work. In a few years he was to return from across the ocean, to accomplish a great work as an evangelist in the cities of New England, and throughout the continent. The New York State Convention of that year met in Pough- keepsie, where my uncle Professor Samuel P. B. Morse wel- comed the delegates on behalf of the citizens. I was his guest during those days, and had the opportunity of enjoying his sympathy in a work, upon my connection with which he gave me his benediction. He was then nearly eighty years of age and passed away not many months after this meeting. At the end of its first year the Association Monthly con- tinued to be a tax upon the treasury of the Committee. The circulation was not as large as we had hoped it would be, for the response in subscriptions from the Associations and the Convention had been somewhat disappointing. McBurney tried to comfort me with the assurance that the paper deserved better support and that the Associations would in time appre- ciate and sustain it! A conspicuous feature of every issue had been the front page picture of an Association building. Though only one accommodated a permanent fourfold work, they all emphasized the possession of equipment and this form of endowment. I was not discouraged, confidently believing that in another year or two, by persevering effort, the goal of self-support could be reached. During the second year — 1871 — I obtained |10,000 worth of advertisements. Another serial story, and articles not directly connected with the work, either as news, editorials, or contributions, were not deemed desir- able. The whole paper was gradually devoted exclusively to what directly concerned the Associations and their work. Second International Convention The Convention of 1871 was held in the National Capital. General Grant was then President and attended the opening meeting. He was a man of very few words. The nine he uttered that evening were the first and briefest but most noted and noteworthy welcome received by the delegates. In this utterance he said of the Association work, "I fully believe it 80 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN is for the general good." From every presidential successor of General Grant has come to the brotherhood growing encour- agement and cooperation. John Wanamaker was chosen Presi- dent. In the discussions, as well as in the number and repre- sentative character of the delegates, the Convention was an advance upon its predecessors. Again, the feature of the Committee's work calling forth most discussion was the Asso- ciation Monthly. Ten leading delegates from Canada and the United States strongly advocated its continuance and a more loyal support from Associations. One of these delegates, proprietor and editor of a successful city paper, gave it as his opinion that the achievement of the first year, from a financial point of view, was very encouraging. "It was not to be ex- pected," he said, "that a newspaper would pay all expenses the first or the second year." Two Significant Events of 1871 The first of these was connected with securing for the Asso- ciations executive officers who would give their whole time to the work. In responding to calls for such men the Committee and its agents were continuing a Secretarial Bureau or de- partment, already begun in the Committee's correspondence and visitation. The vocation indeed was in its infancy. For eight years, with only a brief intermission, Robert McBurney had been in office. He was a member of the International Committee and in this search for qualified men its most valued helper. L. P. Rowland had been fourteen years at Boston, but most of the few Association employed officers, one of whom at Philadelphia was John Wanamaker, had served for a much briefer period. One of these, at Indianapolis, Rev. John B. Brandt, suggested the calling together of these executive officers in connection with the Convention of 1871, and Weidensall and McBurney heartily concurred. It proved a first step toward rallying these officers themselves as helpers in defining the function and work of their vocation and in seeking the men needed for it. It was an early reenforcement of our first endeavors to seek and find Association Secretaries. On the day after adjournment at Washington, in the cabin of a little steamer full of delegates on an excursion to Mount Vernon, a meeting BEGINNING OF CONNfECTION WITH ASSOCIATION 81 of "the paid officers" present was held, according to an arrange- ment made by Brandt, Weidensall, and others, who had met in conference during the sessions of the Convention. New York, Washington, Boston, Montreal and Toronto, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Cleveland, Indianapolis, St. Paul, and Minneapolis were represented, each by its executive Secretary. McBurney was chosen to preside and I was asked to act as scribe and reporter. Each described the nature and activities of the office he held and evidently each was "the salaried officer whose time was wholly or in part devoted to the work" and "to whom the President, the Board, and the Committees looked for the word of information and counsel suggested by their closer incessant contact with the whole work." There was no uniform name for the office. Two, from Washington and Pitts- burgh, bore that of General Secretary. It seemed best to the eleven to adopt this name and recommend it to the Associa- tions. Gradually it has been adopted throughout the world by the brotherhood. It was agreed to form "The Association of General Secretaries of the Young Men's Christian Associations of the United States and British Provinces." Eleven local Association Secretaries signed the constitution or rules as members. "Paid agents or Secretaries of the International or State Committees" were admitted to full membership two years afterward. The second new departure of this year was accomplished by the Pennsylvania State Committee when it secured Rev. Samuel A. Taggart as its first employed officer. He was the first State Secretary in the brotherhood and began in this year the best activities and traditions of that important office. Several years passed away before — owing in part to his good influence and example as a pioneer — Secretaries of similar qualification were secured in other states. Close of an Editorial Experiment The Committee and its editor were coming to the end of the second year of the paper in better form than at the end of the first. A larger portion of the editor's salary had been paid from the proceeds of the publication, owing to a wider circulation and more advertisements. An assistant to help in the solicitation of the latter had been secured. Notwithstand- 82 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN ing these gains I was coming slowly to the conclusion that in continuing to act as both editor and publisher I was attempt- ing more than could be permanently and satisfactorily accom- plished. The pace of the work, or rather the over-work, had brought me nearer to a breakdown, physically, than I had been before or have been since that time. It was in the spring of the year 1871, a few months before my thirtieth birthday, that the doctor gave me warning that his terms and schedule must be submitted to or such a collapse would result as would make necessary a complete cessation from work. His terms were : first, eight hours out of twenty- four for sleep or absolute rest ; second, some form of exercise during an interval of at least half an hour each day; third, this regime must begin within two weeks. Accordingly at the end of the two weeks a sleep account with myself was opened and kept faithfully for two years. It testifies that for this period, whenever, under the many pressures to which I was subjected, eight hours out of the twenty-four were not secured for sleep or rest, the deficiency was made up in the period set apart each week for this purpose. This resort to a sleep account was occasioned by my having heard that it was by such a practice that Henry Ward Beecher, during the most strenuous years of his life, had secured the amount of sleep he needed. For the daily exercise prescribed by the doctor, I did not at that time seek the gymnasium, but re- sorted to the health lift, a form of exercise which was taken under a medical director, and gave me what I needed within the half hour each day which was all the time I could give. Obedience to this regime prevented the threatened collapse. Growing doubt as to the wisdom of attempting to continue permanently as both editor and publisher led to a consultation with those older and more successful in journalism. They convinced me that I was attempting what was impracticable. The member of the Committee who had been assigned as its subcommittee to look after the paper and its editor was Timo- thy G. Sellew, one of the strong laymen, who for many years had been active in the New York Association, and Chairman of one of its Branches. To him as counselor and friend I had been indebted for brotherly cooperation from the beginning. He and the Committee agreed that we should endeavor to BEGINNING OF CONNECTION WITH ASSOCIATION 83 secure a publisher. There was equal unanimity in our choice of a fit man in Thomas K. Cree, then our corresponding mem- ber for Pennsylvania and the successful Secretary of the Pitts- burgh Association. Before he became a Secretary he had been a successful business man. At our invitation he came to New York and gave careful consideration to the proposal that he should undertake the work of publishing the Monthly. But he felt that his position and work in Pittsburgh had prior claim upon him. Further search for a competent man proved unsuccessful, and in the autumn of 1871 I presented my resig- nation to the Committee. For four years I had been endeavoring to find in religious journalism, as many fellow clergymen had found, that form of life work for which I was best fitted. In all this work there had been an experimental element, for I had never felt any distaste for the pulpit and the pastorate. Now in resigning as editor I expected to find that these arduous years would enable me at the age of thirty to prove a better preacher and pastor than if at the outset a pastoral choice had been made and followed. This confident conviction was comforting in the serious disappointment experienced in withdrawing from an undertaking, upon which so much time and energy had been expended. Perhaps McBurney might join me eventually. For early in our friendly fellowship, he had taken counsel with me regarding his own feeling that as soon (1877) as he became forty years of age, he would be too old to continue in the secre- taryship. Therefore he was proposing to enter on a course of study in preparation for the ministry in his own church. It had seemed natural to him to seek the sort of alternative or resort which was open to me and the value of which he per- ceived. A Temporary Offer Received and Accepted It was, therefore, with surprise that I received from Mr. Sellew, in an interview he had asked for, a request from the Committee to continue on its staff, as a visiting Secretary, during the coming winter of 1871 and 1872, and until the meet- ing of the Convention at Lowell in the following June, when the second triennial term of the Committee would expire and a new Committee might be appointed. This request was due 84 IVTY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN in part to the pressure upon the Committee for another visit- ing Secretary. What Eobert Weidensall had been accomplish- ing in the West, and the many calls coming from the South and East, united to make them feel that another man must be put in the field. The growth of the correspondence also had determined the Committee to request from the next Con- vention the grant of a General Secretary, as a condition of compliance on their part with any request to continue in office for a third term of three years. They thought they saw in me qualification for this work and office. But of this I was not at that time aware. In regard to the very desirable continuance of the monthly paper as voted by the last Convention, the Committee felt that with the advertising agent and patronage I had already secured, a good circulation could be maintained and increased on the basis of the general interest manifested at the last two Conventions. For editorial leadership a member of the Com- mittee was available in the person of Dr. Verranus Morse (a good fatherly friend but not a relative), who had been for years a valued contributor to Association literature and to the Monthly. With less than the amount released by the discon- tinuance of my salary, the needed editorial and office work could be secured. This seemed a reasonable program and expectation. From my own point of view also it seemed wise to accept the Committee's proposal. As an enthusiastic adherent of the Association and the work it was doing, I had many friends for life among its leaders and workers, and in entering the pastorate it would be with a desire and purpose to lend a helping hand to this agency of the Church, both evangelical and interdenominational. Such help my father and grand- father were ever quick to lend, in the century through which their united lives had been passed. It was, therefore, with satisfaction that I now improved an opportunity to render during the coming winter and spring what might be the last direct official service in my power to perform in the work of the brotherhood, and under direction of its Committee. CHAPTER VI ON THE PATH TO THE GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP First Tour as a Visiting Secretary, Dec, 1871-May, 1872 In carrying out this new arrangement with the Committee, most of the winter and spring, beginning December 7th, 1871, was spent in New England, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, communicating with seventy-three Associations, the great majority of which were visited. Five hundred and forty-three of their members, friends, and representatives were counseled with. At each point visited, the causes of success or failure were investigated. In the majority of places the Associations were alive and at work; in some they were declining and in ten places they had died. At all points a message of counsel and help was welcomed. This message grew in scope and definiteness, and in adaptation to need, as I came in contact with situations of increasing variety. What I said in public in different cities and towns was variously reported in the local papers. Some of these printed reports reached members of the Committee in New York. Tour in New England The tour in Connecticut included a visit to eight cities and towns where Associations were at work ; to five cities — includ- ing Hartford, Middletown, and Norwich — where they had died, and to W^illimantic, where no Association had yet been formed. This part of the tour occupied five weeks and gave me inter- views with one hundred and forty-six fellow workers and other friends. The first city visited was New London, the residence of the Connecticut corresponding member of our Committee, Newton Fuller, a school teacher. For two years he had been vigilant in this oflSce, had attended most of the five State Conventions which already had been held in Connecticut, and was in correspondence with the Associations. I had met him the previous October at the last of these State Conventions. There were, he said, twenty-three Associations surviving in 85 86 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Connecticut, while nearly double that number had been in existence since the first one was forined in 1858. "Many of these Associations," he said, "spring into existence like Jonah's gourd, and decline and die as quickly." But he had strong faith that a better day was coming. Jonathan Harris, a public spirited citizen, and former Mayor of New London, was a member of the State Committee. At a meeting in his house with some of his fellow members, Mr. Harris was led to become Chairman of the State Com- mittee. Its Secretary, C. M. Wilcox, consented to become its employed oflScer and spent a few months in visiting the Asso- ciations in the state, beginning the trip in my company. "This resulted" during the year, to quote Mr. Fuller's report, "in more Association work being done in the state than ever be- fore." The State Committee, however, did not prove able at that time to keep a permanent State Secretary. Mr. Harris continued to take an active interest in Association work until the close of his life. When the International Committee secured its Act of Incorporation in 1883 he was named in it as one of the Board of Trustees, and served as the first Chairman of the Board for ten years — 1884-1894. In his will he bequeathed 12,000 to the Committee. In Khode Island, at Providence, Bristol, and Westerly, active Associations were visited. At Pawtucket one was re- organized, but a similar restoration could not be accomplished at Woonsocket. Over forty of the friends active in the work in these cities were interviewed. Among them was Edwin K. Holden, who for five years had been the Committee's corre- sponding member. He had called and organized the five State Conventions of Rhode Island held during that period. In Maine four weeks were spent — March 24th to April 22nd — in visiting eleven cities where Associations were at work, and where a serious decline had begun. The work had been abandoned in three places, including Bangor — ^like Hartford, the second city in its state. Over one hundred and sixty friends were found, either interested, or ready to be inter- ested in the work. Only five of the eleven Associations had reading rooms. A larger number were conducting Sunday schools. All were holding union prayer meetings, and engag- ing in other forms of general Christian work. ON THE PATH TO THE GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 87 During these weeks a remarkable temperance revival was prevailing in Augusta, Hallowell, and a number of neighboring cities. It was my only experience of a revival of this nature. Hundreds of men were signing the pledge. It was not a reli- gious movement. "The expulsive power" of that "new affec- tion" created by the Christian faith was not invoked. It was a movement away from the saloon and intemperance, and men were joining it by a negative pledge. I was invited to speak at the rousing meetings which were being held, and presented the Gospel and its constructive message. Hundreds were leav- ing the saloon— for a time — but it was sadly apparent that there was a pitiful lack of adequate provision made for that social need and craving which in the beginning had drawn many of the saloon's victims to that place of peril and disaster. In one city, on its principal street, I entered a long narrow bare room, lately used as a store. It was now rented as an evening resort for those men who had signed the pledge. At the far end of the room was a fireplace. Logs of wood were being brought in by some of the men. The blazing fire on the hearth was welcome, but it was the only feature of comfort in the room. The whole situation presented what seemed an irresistible appeal for that Christian hospitality which our Associations were created to extend to these hundreds of young men in this and other hours of their need and of our opportunity. To rouse public spirited citizens to do our kind of work was not the objective of the leaders of this temperance movement, and I could not then find a place for an Associa- tion, nor among our workers a man to take charge of it. The experience made upon me an ineffaceable impression of the urgent need, in antagonizing the saloon, of concentrating the energies of the Association upon its constructive social and substitutional program of welcome and hospitality to young men, as "the most important and the most neglected class" in our cities and other communities. In New England the Association had been planted for twenty years. The forty Associations which still existed in the three states I had visited, were survivors of many more than double that number, which had been in existence. Only a minority had reading or social rooms for young men. Most of the effort had been expended on prayer meetings, evangelis- 88 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN tic meetings, Sunday schools, and other general Christian work. This work now was being done by laymen, who in due time turned their energies to a wise concentration upon work for young men. At that time such concentration was being more fully accomplished in New York City than elsewhere, and it was on the way to achievement at a few points in New Eng- land. In this connection it was becoming clear that, as a first condition of success on this line, these groups of capable lay- men must each secure an employed officer who should give his entire time and attention to the work of enlisting more lay workers, and organizing them into a program of more efBcient work. The reaching of this conclusion by them had been and was being delayed. Many Associations had failed because of two prevailing tendencies which needed correction. One of these was a fatal dependence On a reading room as of itself sufficient to attract and hold men in competition with the social attractions of the saloon. Under this misleading impression many reading rooms had been opened. I visited a small manufacturing city where, at very considerable expense, a reading room had been well furnished with foreign magazines and excellent American periodicals, and the donors of the money needed had been led to expect that it would attract and hold the young men. Few of the employes and other young men for whom it had been established, resorted to it, and it had proved a conspicuous failure. This and similar experiences in many other places had discredited the name of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation. Many times I was asked whether it would not be the part of wisdom to abandon the name, and under another title establish the more creditable and useful work which I de- scribed, and the worthy and desirable character of which was conceded. Another erroneous impression was that the larger amount of money needed for the salary of an employed officer would be more difficult to raise than the smaller amount now needed for a work carried on wholly by volunteers. In reality, how- ever, the presence and cooperation of such an employed officer made possible a program which commanded the larger sum more easily than a smaller amount could be secured for the less satisfactory work. ON THE PATH TO THE GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 89 Tour in Nova Scotia In the province of Nova Scotia, five weeks of the tour were spent in visiting seventeen places, including the cities of Hali- fax, Truro, Yarmouth, and Amherst. Sixty Associations then existed in this province. Four years before only one was at work. This remarkable growth was due to the initiative of John S. Maclean, a prominent merchant of Halifax. His busi- ness made it necessary for him to travel throughout the prov- ince. At the International Convention of 1867 in Montreal he was a delegate and was profoundly impressed by the ac- tivity and leadership in Christian work of some of his fellow delegates, who were also prominent in the business world. The message, bearing, and standing of William E. Dodge, Jr., from New York City, made a special appeal to him. On his return to Halifax, and during his travels in business, he began making it also his business to enlist laymen in the work. With their cooperation he succeeded in gradually planting Associations in cities and towns and in enlisting a growing number of workers. Soon he was ably seconded by another citizen of Halifax, James B. Morrow, agent in that city of the Cunard Line of steamers. The work of these Canadian laymen had led to the organization of Associations in cities, towns, and country places. Those established in rural communities had become more numerous than in any equal extent of territory on the continent. If the present (1916) form of county and rural organization, with its permanent qualified officer, had been available at that time, this good work begun by volunteer effort could speedily have been fostered into permanent grow- ing efficiency. In the county of Pictou there were thirty-three Associations. Beginning at the city of Pictou, with Howard and Clarence Primrose and some associates, meetings were held in eight of these small Associations, and representatives from eighteen other Associations in this little county were counseled with. At the beginning of the tour in Halifax I was warmly welcomed as a guest by Morrow, and had the company and help of Mac- lean in a number of the places visited. We were at Truro together, at the largest meeting of the 90 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN tour, held on the evening of a Thanksgiving Day in February. This day was being observed throughout the British Empire in grateful recognition of the recovery from very serious illness of the Prince of Wales, afterward King Edward VII, who was then in the prime of life at the age of thirty-one. We were born within a few days of one another. An enthusiastic audience had been called together, and earnest prayer was offered for the young man whose life had been preserved, that he might become qualified and disposed to improve the finest and widest opportunity for the service of his fellowmen, as a sovereign, offered to any young man of his generation. In Mr. Morrow's home, in the privacy of his study, occurred a conversation one Sunday evening which at that time pro- foundly interested me. Together we had spent some days in Christian work and fellowship. Quite suddenly, and in a somewhat regretful tone, he said, "Mr. Morse, did you ever meet a man without a country?" "No," I replied, "I have read of such a man in a story which I regarded as a work of fiction." "Well," said he, "you are meeting such a man now. As a citizen of Protestant Nova Scotia, and a British subject, I was fully content. But of a political union with the larger, stronger, and preponderatingly Romanist, province of Quebec, I am so apprehensive that I am completely out of sympathy with the creation of the Dominion, of which I am most reluc- tantly a citizen." He was not spared to live into this better period when all Canada has come under the power of a mighty national spirit and is manifestly destined to become one of the greater nationalities of the world. This tour was terminated in April, some weeks earlier than had been contemplated, owing to an invitation and request which I received to spend the summer in Europe, for the benefit of the health of one of my nephews. In my absence from New York, his parents approached the Committee on the subject. So much of my errand had been accomplished and the Convention date, ending our agreement and ending also the Committee's term of service, was so near that they were willing to join me in assenting to the plan and change proposed. On my return to New York in April, to set out on this journey, I prepared a careful report of the Association visita- ON THE PATH TO THE GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 91 tion which I had accomplished, giving a tabulated statement of all the towns and cities visited, and enumerating the causes of success and failure of the Associations in them. This report closes with these words: "This instructive tour has deepened my conviction of the importance and value of our societies. Like all good enterprises that struggle through trial and experiment toward their final form of usefulness, they have met with trouble, and occasional disaster. But never before were there so many well established, vigorous Associations, and never before did they give fairer promise of promoting the Kingdom of Christ among young men." "The Young Men's Christian Association As It Is" The World's Conference was to meet that summer in Amster- dam, Holland. The friends of McBurney had been planning for him such an opportunity for rest and recreation as would be afforded by a trip abroad. My first errand was to be finished before the date, in August, of the Conference in Am- sterdam. So we agreed to meet in London and go to the Conference together. After I finished my report for the Committee, and before I left New York in May, McBurney called my attention to some newspaper clippings in his possession, giving more or less extended reports of what I had said in some of the cities on my recent tour, in advocacy of the Association and its work. "Will you not," he said, "while on your journey, write out for me, more fully, the substance of your plea for the Associations? It will be serviceable in some more permanent form." Accordingly, during our ten days on the ocean this request was complied with. To what I had written the title, ^ "The Young Men's Christian Association As It Is" was given and it was mailed to McBurney on our arrival in Europe. Upon reading it he at once sent it to the printer, and it was issued during my absence in pamphlet form as one of the documents presented by the Committee for circulation at the Lowell Convention. From the closing paragraph the following sentences are taken : "The principal forms of effort have been enumerated in 1 Pp. Ill, 202. 92 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN which for the past twenty years the Young Men's Christian Associations have carried on their work. The religious in- spiration and enthusiasm which is the motive power of the workers has had its source in personal love and devotion to their divine Lord. In His name and for Him the work has been undertaken; to bring men to the knowledge of His abounding grace it has been prosecuted, upon His help and sympathy those who are active in it have relied, and in closer communion with Him they have realized their fellowship with one another. Active and faithful in the churches to which they belong, they have frankly respected the things in which they differ, but in the Association their aim is to magnify the faith, the hope and the love in which they are agreed and to find in these the inspiration for that work which they can best accomplish unitedly. By fraternal sympathy and co- operation they have sought to honor the name of the Master who said : 'By this shall men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another.' The institution is still in its infancy. What has been done in defining and extending it is only the beginning of a good enterprise. None feel this more deeply than those who thus far have been most active and devoted in the work. But its steady growth, its present strength and activity, and the divine blessing which has so constantly attended it combine to give fair promise that the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion is to grow in power and usefulness until its influence for good is felt in every part of the continent." The Lowell Convention 1872 The International Committee, then consisting of seven members, all resident in New York City and Brooklyn, brought its report to the Lowell Convention (June 12-16, 1872) at the end of its second term of three years. It is the only Inter- national Convention I failed to attend between 1870 and 1917. To this Committee since its election in 1866, the Conventions had already granted a term, three times longer than had been given to any of its predecessors. Would the brotherhood con- tinue at Lowell this radical new departure? Before leaving New York for the Convention, the members of the Committee agreed that any serious opposition to their con- tinuance in ofBce would call from them immediate and positive refusal of a reelection. The reports of Weidensall and myself formed part of the Committee's report. Mine consisted of an ON THE PATH TO THE GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 93 account of the four months' work in New England and Nova Scotia. Weidensall gave account of his fourth year of work — the best he had yet achieved. He had "traveled 13,650 miles, stopped in 112 cities and towns, visited 42 Associations, pre- pared the way for 18 new organizations." Among the places visited were St. Louis, Louisville, Wheeling, Baltimore, and Washington ; New York, where he spent two weeks in the study of the work; Richmond, Lynchburg, Wilmington, Charleston, Savannah, Selma, Mobile, New Orleans, and seven Student Associations, the oldest of the seven, at the University of Virginia, dating from 1857. There the name was about to be given up by the students under the mistaken impression, which he removed, that "it would not be recognized by town and city Associations !" The previous year he had visited eight colleges and universities of the middle West, promoting Associations in them. The Committee's report — drafted by Mr. Brainerd, as were all its reports during the twenty-five years of his chairman- ship, thus alludes to the work of its two agents: "The agents representing the Committee, Robert Weidensall and Richard C Morse, have performed a most effective service the past year. . . . The Committee desire the Convention to hear each report. Messrs. Weidensall and Morse are thoroughly conversant with all our work, in all its phases, fully informed in the particulars of the history of the Association, which is to such a consider- able extent traditional, and able to cope with the diflSculties presented on the field. This is counted by your Committee as an advance. Six years ago it would have been next to im- possible to find one man who could be trusted as a representa- tive of the Committee and who was willing to undertake the employment of visitation. It is believed that these two gentle- men should be continued in the work they have prosecuted so well. ... No one can do this work well who is unacquainted with the history of the Associations, and with the literature which their existence has evoked. He must be wise, prudent, pious; a sensible and correct speaker, with a faculty for or- ganization, as well as exhortation ; one who can answer objec- tions and avoid difficulties, and influence individual men, as well as conduct mass and prayer meetings." The Committee on the International Committee's Report 94 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN proposed the reelection of the Committee for a third term of three years. In the discussion which followed, amendments suggesting a change were offered, and the members of the Committee, in accord with their previous agreement among themselves, declined reelection. Then followed further dis- cussion which developed more fully the mind of the Conven- tion. Delegates from principal cities, including Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Washington, and Philadelphia, united in urging the members of the Committee to reconsider and to accept a reelection. This was so urgently pressed upon them, that finally the call came without a dissenting vote. So they "receded from the determination formed after full conference in New York before coming to the Convention." "We yield," they said in a written communication, "to your unanimous request, and the expression of your confidence both formally and privately made." The continuance of the Association Monthly was voted, and the Committee was authorized to employ a General Secretary. In the negotiations with reference to the reelection of the Committee it had been stipulated as a condition of the Com- mittee's acceptance that the Convention would authorize the securing of this Secretary, who was now urgently needed. As a further mark of its confidence in its Committee, the Convention gave it the following discretion : "Upon an emer- gency requiring immediate action the Committee may adopt such measures as may be necessary, not inconsistent with the action of previous Conventions, reporting the same to the next succeeding Convention for its approval." This was a discre- tion, the exercise of which, whenever emergencies have caused the Committee to act upon it, has been invariably approved by succeeding Conventions and the discretion has never been revoked or the wisdom of it seriously questioned. Though the Lowell Convention was attended by a smaller number of delegates than any one of its five predecessors, the leaders in previous Conventions were fully represented. Thane Miller presided for the fourth time. Never since has a change of location for its Committee been debated on the floor of any Convention. In 1875, 1877, 1879, and 1881 the Committee was reelected and the number of its members gradually increased to twenty-nine. To the Convention of 1883, according to the ON THE PATH TO THE GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 95 instruction of its predecessor, was submitted an act of the New York State Legislature incorporating the Committee. By the adoption of this act, that Convention elected a Com- mittee of thirty-three, an Advisory Board of nine, and a Board of Trustees of fifteen members. To this and the previous Conventions Weidensall had re- ported visits to Student Associations formed or forming in fifteen colleges and universities. No special attention was given by the Convention to this noteworthy feature of its agent's report. But he was listened to by five young under- graduate delegates who represented three of these Student Associations. Prom them no recorded word was heard. Yet to one of these youthful delegates, Luther D. Wishard, many future Conventions were to listen eagerly, giving earnest heed to what he should say concerning Student Association work. He now represented Hanover College, Indiana, an Association which Weidensall had reported the previous year. More than once I have heard this student delegate tell the story of his coming to Lowell, to attend his first Association Convention. He insisted that no greener country boy than he then was ever came as a delegate to such a meeting. Weidensall had made a profound impression upon the students at Hanover, and when the call to the Lowell Convention was received it was determined that a delegate must be sent. Some of the money needed for expenses was obtained, but Wishard was able to go only because he was willing to devote the rest of the summer to earn what was lacking in the fund . provided for his expenses. It was for him a first and memorable jour- ney. He carried a letter of introduction to Weidensall from the student President, saying he was "a man of the right stamp." He was profoundly impressed by the entire proceed- ings. To him it appeared to be the convention of an already great brotherhood, under the leadership of great men. The thought that this work and organization was one peculiarly adapted to students was firmly planted in his mind. But that promotion of it was to consume his energies for many years did not enter his mind and life until some time later, and long after Ms enthusiastic report of the Convention's proceed- ings was given by him to his fellow students. Forty-five years afterward, in 1915, a letter was received 96 My life with young men from my friend Bishop W. E. Lambuth of the Methodist Church, South, another student at the Lowell Convention. It contained the following testimony: "I was one of the two delegates from Emory and Henry College to the International Convention held at Lowell, Massa- chusetts in 1872. We went through the influence of Kobert Weidensall, who visited our College that year. I had organ- ized a Young Men's Christian Association at the college, which in turn established some five Sunday schools in the country, one of them for colored children. This work was in addition to what we were trying to do among the students. . . . We were so anxious to go to Lowell and yet our funds were so scant, that Mr.. J. P. Brown and I had determined to walk from Emory, Virginia. We managed to secure some help, however, by selling furniture and books, together with some supplementary aid from home, and made the journey by rail. . . . My recollection of the Lowell Convention is one which conveys the impression to this day of the intense ear- nestness of the leaders, the evident interest they had in young men and in student life, and the power of intercessory prayer. I am sure that the Convention gave us an impulse and an inspiration which were never lost, but found expression in service among our fellow students in college, upon our return, and in other fields later on in life. . . . Doctor Harlan P. Beach and I share the honor of having organized the first two Young Men's Christian Associations among students in the Chinese Empire. He was at Tung Chow and I at Peking. I thank God for your selection, at the time of the Lowell Convention, as General Secretary, and have never lost the con- viction that the choice was one which was reached through the guidance of the Holy Spirit." At the Committee meeting during the Convention it was voted to ask me to take this new office of General Secretary and McBurney was commissioned to carry this request to me, when we met in Europe. Tour in Europe 1872 Meanwhile during May, 1872, I had crossed the ocean in a German steamer with my nephew, Richard Morse Colgate. He was then a student preparing to enter Yale College, from which he graduated in 1877. He is now a prominent Christian ON THE PATH TO THE GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 97 merchant, the head of the firm of Colgate and Company, and has been for over thirty years an active member of the Inter- national Committee, where his son Henry (Yale, 1913) has novif joined him. His younger brother Gilbert Colgate (Yale, 1884) is Treasurer of the Board of Trustees. Landing at Cherbourg, we entered Italy by way of Nice and the marvellously beautiful Cornice Koad. In making prepara- tion for the trip it was stipulated that its main object should be the bodily invigoration of both travelers. To this end six weeks must be spent in mountain climbing, chiefly in Switzer- land, and the remainder of the time as I might prefer. So we began with Pisa, Florence, and Rome. The last named city very recently had become the capital of the new Kingdom of United Italy, under the rule of Victor Emmanuel. Protes- tant worship, under permission and protection of the law, was still a novelty within the walls of the Eternal City. On Sun- day we attended a Union Service in a small audience room. Dr. Herrick Johnson, afterward for many years a professor in McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, gave us an impressive sermon on the text "Enoch walked with God." It was followed by a solemn communion service. I never enjoyed sightseeing abroad more than in this first visit to Rome. Its most interesting incidents were connected with our joining, for several days, a small class of tourists under the care of a very competent guide, Shakespeare Wood, who was then correspondent at Rome of the London Times, and also in touch with the authorities conducting excavations where some interesting recent discoveries had been made. Part of one day he spent with us in the Forum, describing the principal structures which had been successively placed upon it, beginning with the house of Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome. What was left of these buildings and statues he pointed out, calling attention to a recent discovery which had made plain, beyond controversy, the path through the Forum which was followed by those who bore the body of Julius Csesar from the Senate Chamber, where he had been murdered, to the front of the Temple of Castor and PoUux, where, before it was burned, Mark Antony delivered the ora- tion with which, from boyhood, I had been as familiar as with the Shorter Catechism! 98 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Another day he took us to the Palatine Hill and to what was left of the palaces of the Caesars and told us how, before Caesar's day, that was the hill where the plebeians lived. Augustus Caesar, after the decisive battle of Actium, wrote to his lawyer in Eome to buy him a house and home on the Palatine, among the people whose favor he was seeking on his path to become their first Emperor. Beginning with what still remains of this house of Augustus, Mr. Wood told the story of the palaces, the wrecks of which he made interesting and magnificent to our unsophisticated eyes. A third day we wandered with him down the Appian Way, along which Paul and perhaps Peter, and certainly many other saints, had ap- proached the city, which began to be described by the name "Holy" centuries after it had been called "Imperial" and "Eternal." Here, too, he led us back beyond the time of the republic to the era of the Kings of Rome. "It is an era," he said, "which some scholars are calling legendary, but some of the monu- ments here and elsewhere lead archeologists to hesitate to accept this theory." He then pointed out a number of monu- ments which convinced him and other archeologists that they were right in refusing to regard this kingly period and its records as belonging to the realm of folklore and legend, and not to authentic history. This archeological review of the story of ancient Rome — a story which I had read and studied from boyhood, but in a somber environment totally different from the one I was now enjoying — was interesting and excit- ing enough to place the recollection of it among my pleasantest experiences in travel. We reached Switzerland by way of the Tyrol, going from Verona over the quiet Brenner Pass to Meran, pedestrians with no lofty Alpine ambitions. Our fourth pass was the Splugen. By this we again entered Italy, traversing Lakes Como and Maggiore, visiting Milan and returning northward over the Simplon to Visp and. Zermatt, in the heart of the snow mountains, and in the presence of Monte Rosa and the Matterhorn. We were no longer humble pedestrians. We were eager to ascend some lofty snow mountain, and selected the Col d'Herens— 11,500 feet— as the height of our ambition. Thus far one guide had been sufficient, but now Richard C. Morse and Richard M. Colgate, in SwITZEELA^^D, 1872 ON THE PATH TO THE GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 99 two were necessary, with a rope connecting the four climbers. It was gloriously clear starlight, when we set out from Zer- matt at 1 a. m. After two hours the eastern horizon began to grow bright and we were apprehensive that our guides had not called us long enough before sunrise, but were quieted by the assurance that it was the white light of the coming moon which we saw. This beautiful light was soon shed over a wide region of lofty mountains, with every part of the horizon, except the bare rocky wall of the Matterhorn, covered with snow. Towering higher was the distant Monte Kosa and nearer the Matterhorn, under the shadow of which we were climbing, the snowy side of the Col. d'Herens. On the summit we were within 2,000 feet of the rocky peak of the greater mountain. A few hours later the white light on the eastern horizon began to receive a rosy tint, and the sun came up without a cloud visible in the sky. It was one of the two most exhilarat- ing days of our five weeks in Switzerland and brought us into sympathy with the enthusiasm of the Alpine climbers of many nations. After a tramp of fourteen hours, we reached our destination in the valley of Sion and our guides took occasion to assure us that we were both in excellent trim to make the ascent of Mt. Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe. We knew that they ranked among the best guides in Switzerland. One of them was Peter Taugwalder. He and his father were two of the guides who conducted the party which in a recent year had made the first ascent of the Matterhorn. Both of our guides had made the ascent of Mt. Blanc several times, and were familiar with the route. We consented to go with them as far up the mountain as the Grands Mulets, a Swiss chalet or hut which was the last station for those who ascend Mt. Blanc from Chamounix, and was within 5,000 feet of the summit. On our way to this point over the Glacier, we met Professor Tyndall the scientist, well known as a veteran explorer of the Alps. He was acquainted with Taugwalder, and as we halted for them to greet one another I introduced myself as the nephew of my uncle. Professor Morse, asked his counsel about venturing to make the ascent urged upon us by our guides. 106 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN and explained my feeling of responsibility to the parents of my nephew. After talking with Taugwalder he said to me that the ascent was' not now considered dangerous, and that Taugwaldei was one of the very best guides in Switzerland. He counseled the undertaking, provided the weather was favor- able. I asked him to instruct Taugwalder for me on this point, and to explain to him that I desired to wait, if necessary, for a favorable day. When he had cordially complied with this request, I thanked him most heartily for the help he had so courteously given to a stranger in perplexity. Soon after this fortunate meeting we reached the Grands Mulets, which looked like a bowling alley, perched insecurely on the two rocks jutting out of the rough icy surface of the Glacier. On the morning of the 3rd the weather was unpromis- ing, but at 1 A. M. on the 4th of July, we left the Grands Mulets, and six hours later reached the summit, in the teeth of a fierce icy wind. The sky was clear and the magnificent prospect most rewarding. In one direction among a group of snow mountains the Monte Rosa and Matterhorn peaks were clearly seen, in another the Jungfrau, Eiger, and Monch of the Bernese Ober- land group — all below us! Much farther below we noticed what seemed to be a brook meandering through a deep valley with a green hill at one side, and a barn built on the top of it. This was the Val d'Aosta and Mount St. Bernard crowned with its monastery. The impressions which we had already received of many of these mountains, and of the sublime scenery of Switzerland, helped to make intelligible to us the wonderful character and extent of the prospect now under our eyes. Our arrival on the summit was announced as usual from Chamounix by the boom of a cannon. On reaching the village in the afternoon the demonstration concerning the event made us feel, as American citizens, that we had patriotic- ally celebrated the Fourth of July. Our sixth week of mountain climbing we decided to spend on the lower altitudes of the English Lake District, and at the end of the period greatly enjoyed standing on the Scawfell Pikes — the highest spot in England ! Then I bade goodby to my nephew in the harbor of Queenstown, as the good steamer Baltic carried him toward home. ON THE PATH TO THE GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 101 World's Conference 1872 The family errands which had caused me to visit Europe for the third time were not ended with the departure of my nephew. The final days of the tour were to be spent in Berlin with my youngest brother Oliver, who had been studying for several years in Germany. Between these controlling family errands, quite incidentally — as was also the case with Mc- Burney — attendance upon the World's Conference in Amster- dam in August was practicable, and we were, glad to avail ourselves of the opportunity. From Queenstown I returned to London, where McBurney, after his visit to relatives in the north of Ireland, was to join me, that we might go together to Amsterdam before he completed his tour abroad by a visit to Switzerland. Though for each of us attendance upon this conference was only incidental to a trip abroad on family errands, out of it came influences which caused and shaped for both of us many future journeys together across the Atlantic. In my own case it led to my undertaking, during the follow- ing forty-two years, nineteen journeys to Europe — almost always with McBurney until his death in 1898 — and two trips across the Pacific. In each instance the principal errand was connected with a World's Conference or Committee meeting, or the improvement of some opportunity of promoting inter- national fellowship in our brotherhood. In London for the first time we enjoyed meeting Association workers, with whom we had often corresponded, and for whom we had brotherly regard and affection. George Williams, then in his fiftieth year, was Treasurer of the London Committee and Association. From him on this visit I received the first of many welcomes to the historic room at 72 St. Paul's Churchyard where the Association was born and where afterward, as often as I was in London, I was to have the privilege of enjoying brotherly, helpful intercourse with him as friend and counselor. The President, the Earl of Shaftesbury, we did not meet until a later visit. Shipton had been an employed officer of the London Association since 1850, serving as an assistant until 1856, and for the last six- 102 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN teen years as the able Secretary of the Association, which stood in an active parental relation to all British Associations. This relation did not exist by vote of representative delegates. A National Council was not created by such formal action until 1882, coming then from American suggestion. As Associations had been organized in the leading cities of Britain, each had filed a copy of its constitution with the London Association, and sent to it an annual report. So the members of each belonged not only to the local Association, but to the whole movement. This arrangement gave to the London Secretary a fatherly relation to his fellow Secretaries in Britain. He was the acknowledged leader in the calling and deliberation of all Association Conferences which had been held in that country. Equally in relation to the World's Conference he had been a leader of like rank, attending every one. At the first, in 1855, the system of correspondence between the Associations of the different nations, suggested by the American delegation, was entrusted to him without formal appointment by the Conference. Under his able leadership the four Conferences since 1855 had been called and held, and he had arranged in a similar manner for the approaching meeting in Amsterdam. Shipton, therefore, in London was a City Association Secretary, and also a supervisory secretary in his relation to the British Associations and the World's Conference. He received us very cordially in the Association rooms and oflBce, then located on Aldersgate Street, and still occupied by one of the Branches of the London Association. There he held a large and interesting Bible class every Sunday afternoon, at the close of which tea was served. Attending this class soon after my arrival in London, and before Mc- Burney joined me, I was deeply impressed with Shipton's excellent conversational manner of conducting it. During the tea we began an acquaintance and fellowship which was life- long. At Amsterdam the only other American delegate at the opening of the Conference was Moses W. Pond, President of the Boston Association. Two others appeared before adjourn- ment, one of whom was Dr. Scovel, then of Pittsburgh, and later for many years the honored President of Wooster Uni- ON THE PATH TO THE GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 103 versity, Ohio. The number of delegates from France and Germany was small, owing to the fact that the Franco-German War was of recent date. For the same cause this triennial meeting had not been held since 1867. There were sixty-two delegates from Holland and sixty-four from six other coun- tries. Of these Britain sent thirty -eight ; Germany fifteen; America five; and Switzerland, France, and Belgium each sent two. The President of the Amsterdam Association, Van Ooster- wijck Bruijn, presided at the opening session and welcomed us, using in succession the four languages spoken by the dele- gates. Every paper was presented in one of these languages and then the substance was translated into the other languages by interpreters. Each day, at one meal for all the delegates, opportunity was given for brotherly intercourse. From each country represented, except the two in North America, a paper was read, giving account of the work in that country. The Junglings Tereins of Germany — chiefly under pastors as presidents, and a part of the parochial system of the State Church in Germany — were represented by Pastors Krum- macher and Christian Klug. It was a type of organization and work prevailing not only in Germany, but in parts of Switzerland and Holland. The local interdenominational laical type was represented by all the English speaking dele- gates, and by France and parts of other countries. No paper upon the work in North America had been asked for or provided. As we listened to the facts about the Associations in other lands, and recalled the recent new departures achieved by our Associations in developing and extending the fourfold work, we became aware that such a paper from our side of the ocean would be of value to a World's Conference. It would give facts concerning a group of Associations which, in some desirable features, were stronger than kindred organizations in any other land. In the intervals of the sessions the English speaking dele- gates held several meetings. On Sunday Mr. Shipton led a conversational Bible class, giving a strong impressive illus- tration of this excellent method of Bible work. It led later to an invitation from our American Secretaries for a Bible 104 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN class leader from England, which was responded to by W. Hind Smith, the Secretary of the Manchester Association, who brought to our Secretaries' Conference of 1874 a special message concerning the place of the Bible class in the scheme of Association work. At another meeting of English speaking delegates we were asked to lead a prayer meeting, and at another to state the facts concerning recent developments of the American work — local, state, and international. This called forth many inquiries from the thirty-five British dele- gates, some of whom came from the larger cities, and did not sympathize with Mr. Shipton's views, already expressed to us as follows in writing, and in kindly, brotherly terms: "I entertain a conviction that your methods must needs be all your own, and though they may differ in some respects from ours, ours would certainly not be altogether fitted to the conditions of life and work among you. Only let us pray that the directly religious aims of the Associations may receive, everywhere, more prominence." He questioned whether some features of our fourfold work could be maintained without sacrifice of "the directly religious aims of our Associations" on both sides of the sea. What he knew also of our supervisory representative organ- izations and its agencies did not lead him to think them desir- able for Britain and other countries. We were assured that the opposite of these views was held by not a few of those who were influential in the British Associations. The very general use of wine at meals, by delegates to the Conference, was a surprise to the American delegates. Nothing was more strik- ing and impressive to them than the devout, earnest, and consecrated spirit of these delegates from many lands. How-, ever much we might difller in the languages we spoke and in the methods of work we were pursuing, all of us were quick and sensitive to feel that we perfectly understood each other in the confession of our faith and trust in Jesus Christ as God and Saviour and in a supreme desire to "lead young men to become His disciples in their teaching and in their life." This was from the beginning and continues to be the primary solicitude and the vital bond of fellowship uniting in love and service all genuine Association leaders and workers in all lands. ON THE PATH TO THE GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 105 A great privilege of the Conference for us was the oppor- tunity to come into fellowship with the first generation of European leaders, among them George Williams; W. Edwyn Shipton; Professor Thomas H. Gladstone, a cousin of the statesman; Pastor Paul Cook of Paris, the president of the two Conferences of 1855 and 1867 which had met in that city ; Pastor Krummacher and Christian King from Germany; and Van Oosterwijck Bruijn of Holland, who presided over this Conference with brotherly courtesy. Some had been at every Conference. They told us of the absentees whom we were to meet in other years, including Max Perrot, Pastor Barde, and Professor Renevier of Switzerland. Some of these veterans, including Williams, Cook, and Ship- ton, had taken part with the few delegates from eight coun- tries of Europe and North America who met in Paris at the first Conference and framed the Basis of 1855, so satisfying in its simplicity and sufficiency that it was reaflQrmed also at Paris, unaltered, in the Jubilee Conference of 1905 by 750 representatives of Associations on all the continents. Its words continue to express the conviction of Association work- ers and the basis of their fellowship and work: "The Young Men's Christian Associations seek to unite those young men who, regarding the Lord Jesus Christ as their God and Saviour according to the Holy Scriptures, desire to be His disciples in their doctrine and their life and to associate their efforts for the extension of His Kingdom among young men." From Amsterdam McBurney went to complete his tour by a visit to Switzerland, while I returned home by way of Berlin, and in company with my brother Oliver, of the Yale class of 1868, who joined me there. He had spent some years in study in Germany and after gaining sufflcient knowledge of the language had succeeded in promoting the extension of the Sunday school on the American plan and method in some of the churches of Germany. Consideration and Acceptance of General Secretaryship When we met in Europe I had promised McBurney that upon returning home I would give a definite answer to the invitation of the Committee to become its General Secretary. In 1872, less from my own point of view than from that of 106 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN my family and clerical friends, the lesson of the four years of strenuous work in religious journalism seemed to be that the time had now come for me, at the age of thirty-one, to make choice of those activities of my calling, which belonged to the pulpit and pastorate. Better qualification for this work tEey agreed in thinking had been gained by me as a student, editor, publisher, and Association worker. So far as I could interpret my own mind and conscience I was perfectly ready to do this, if by such a course I could serve my generation most effectively in the Church and Kingdom of our Lord. The weight of opinion among those who had been nearest to me since boyhood, so far as I could interpret it, was favor- able to the choice of the pastorate. "In seeking a life work in religious journalism," they said, "you have certainly been unsuccessful; might you not be as seriously disappointed in this Association work? In a few local fields in the great cities, with a building and larger resources in men and money, the Association is giving to a few a great work to do — but for how long a time? Even McBurney at his age, feels he is getting near the end of his usefulness as a Secretary and has thought of seeking such preparation for pulpit and pastorate as already you have secured. But to you an oflSce like that of McBurney's is not offered. You are asked to attempt one, as yet untried by any worker, and growing out of a somewhat vague relation to many Associations, of many varieties. You are asked to do this by a Committee with slender resources, who are seeking to promote a form of Association work, which has been adopted by only a small minority of the societies; and these, after a checkered existence of twenty years, do not yet seem to know their own mind. Should not these consider- ations lead you to the conviction that this is the critical time to enter an open path in which you will join your friend and classmate, Henry Stebbins, now your near neighbor in River- dale, New York, where he is in the fifth year of his first and useful pastorate ? If you are ever to take this step is not now the time to take it?" Under the urgency of such friendly counsel as this, I became conscious that the considerations and convictions which were strongly inclining me toward an acceptance of the position offered me, were peculiarly my own possession, and chiefly ON THE PATH TO THE GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 107 because they were all known only to me. During the past three years personal intercourse, fellowship, and strenuous work, had made me, more thoroughly than perhaps I had realized, an interdenominationalist. I had inclined in that direction before joining the Association, having already been a member and worker in churches of three denominations. The atmosphere of my home, the attitude of my father, the study of my grandfather's life and letters, the preferences formed during my connection with the theological seminary, and my contact in the Observer with the religious press and the writers and workers of all the denominations, had been a good preparation for practical contact with the Association and study of its work. Three years in the Association had brought me into living, personal fellowship with several hundred men, actually at work in the different denominations, and loyal to their churches. So far as we were denominationalists, McBurney and I belonged to different churches. Thane Miller was a member of a third denomination, Moody of another, and Pier- pont Morgan of a fifth. William Dodge and Cephas Brainerd were of the same denomination as myself. Many years afterward at the Ecumenical Missionary Con- ference in Edinburgh in 1910 I heard a Chinese pastor and leader of the Church in China say, "The Chinese mind has no use for denominationalism." The remark caused me then to recognize and confess that probably my mind, ancestrally and through my own experience, had been for over a century gradually coming into some kinship with the Chinese mind. But this is a digression. With the Association work in its best estate when it concentrated upon work among young men, I had become acquainted, and I believed in its future growth. I had defined this work in a manner acceptable to those ex- perienced in it. The view of the Associations as they existed in other parts of the world which I had gained at the World's Conference accentuated the importance of what was being achieved in North America, in its relation to the promotion of this form of interdenominational work on other continents. If I could prove acceptable and efficient in the oflflce now offered, it seemed to me, after careful and prayerful deliberation, that 108 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN in such a position, more than in any other path open to me, I could make that use of my faculties and the training I had thus far received which would best fulfil my call to the minis- try of the Gospel and its obligations. With this conviction, late in September I accepted the pro- posal of the Committee and on October 1, 1872, began my work with them under the sole title of General Secretary. CHAPTER VII THE BEGINNING OF THE GENERAL SECRETAEYSHIP OP THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE First Year as General Secretary 1872-73 The Association Monthly was still published by the Com- mittee under the arrangement already mentioned. It was for other work that the General Secretary had been called and was urgently needed. The Monthly continued to meet with favor at the Conven- tion, where it found friends and advocates, but it became such a tax on the Committee's treasury that in the spring of 1873 its publication was abandoned and an arrangement was made with the Illustrated Christian Weekly, a publication of the Tract Society edited by Dr. Lyman Abbott, to take the list of subscribers and furnish in its weekly issues items of news from the Associations. The ending of the Association Monthly did not end the un- dying interest of the Committee in a periodical for the Asso- ciation Movement. But for two years (1870-71) they had made a periodical the absorbing occupation of their second employed officer, to whom they gave the title of "General Secre- tary and Editor." He had found this occupation an excellent place of training because his desk was in the parent Associa- tion building of the Association Movement and he was in inti- mate intercourse with the local city Secretary, who was work- ing out for the whole brotherhood the problem and program of the fourfold work. Further, the editor's correspondence to procure "The News of the Associations" for publication gave him knowledge, beyond any one else at that time, of the elect Associations which were making progress toward developing this distinctive Association work and equally desirable knowl-' edge of the many more which were accomplishing little or, nothing in this direction. 109 110 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN But the time had now come for this editor to give himself wholly, by visitation as well as by correspondence, to the dis- tinctive work of the General Secretaryship. This was the decree of both Committee and Convention. Correspondence and Pamphlets A principal agency of the General Secretary in his contact with the individual Associations was that correspondence which had already become a burden too heavy to be carried by the volunteer ofiScers of the Committee. Most of this burden had been carried by the chairman, Cephas Brainerd. He was a born letter writer, taking genuine pleasure in what was generally regarded as a task. At one time when he was quite ill far away from home, Mrs. Brainerd told me that she did not feel really anxious about him until he failed to write his daily home letter. "When he can't write a letter," said she, "he must be seriously ill." They were good virile letters, that reached their mark, as the replies which they brought abundantly testified. He did not cease writing after the Gen- eral Secretary began to lend a hand, for there was plenty of work in this line for both of us, during the time each could command for it. The larger burden now devolved on me, but of letters relat- ing to perplexing problems he wrote a large proportion during the remaining twenty years of his chairmanship. In dealing with letters of this sort I found in him teacher and trainer. In discussions and adjustments of trying situations and differ- ing opinions he had the rare faculty of going no further in each succeeding letter than was necessary at that stage of the negotiation or problem. He could stop where one felt tempted to go on prematurely. This faculty had had excellent training in his successful practice as a lawyer. There was one department of the correspondence which we did not share. It might be an exaggeration to say that he wrote half a dozen letters soliciting, money for the Committee, during the years of our fellowship in this work. He appre- ciated and rejoiced in any success in this direction won by any of his associates, but he felt that his service upon other equally important phases of the work justified exemption from endeavor of this kind. For me also during the first two years BEGINNING OF GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 111 it did not become necessary to undertake this class of corre- spondence. With many letters were sent copies of the few pamphlets already published containing "Suggestions Concerning Organi- zation," "Form of Constitution," and "Test of Active Member- ship." These had been prepared, and for a time were circu- lated gratuitously by the Committee, but soon for each a small price was charged. Among these was my own pamphlet, ^ "The Young Men's Christian Association As It Is." The first edition treated only of the local organization. In 1876 it was increased in size, dealing with the Railroad, Student, and Supervisory Work. The title page of the edition of 1880 states that the circulation had then reached 24,000 copies. Search for Secretaries and Representation at Conventions A significant and very important feature of the correspond- ence with individual Associations, from its beginning, related to securing competent General Secretaries and presented problems, demanding visitation, as well as written replies. In this way began that solicitude and search for men of promise which created a Secretarial Department or Bureau and commanded increasing cooperation from Secretaries Inter- national, State, and local. Out of it already in 1871 had grown the Secretaries' Conference — a conference which for more than its first two decades (1871-1891) — was conducted by its chang- ing Executive Secretaries and Committees in such close con- nection and counsel with this International Secretarial De- partment as to be in point of fact, part and partner of it. A section of the correspondence, steadily growing from year to year, promoted representation of the Committee at State and Provincial Conventions. To these, in the beginning, the Committee's corresponding member in each state maintained a virile relation, until he gradually gave place to the State Committee and the State Secretary. To each of these Com- mittees as it was created the International Committee soon looked for the nomination of a corresponding member from their own number. Their reports published in the Year Books until 1900 gave a brief account of each year's work in each «Pp. 91, 92. 112 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN state and province. Thus was preserved a summary statement of the progress of the work in all the states and provinces. For the year 1875, I was able to report that at every one of the seventeen State and Provincial Conventions of that year the Committee was satisfactorily represented. This represen- tation promoted unity and efSciency, and has been steadily maintained and increased by the members and staff of the Committee. It was invited and welcomed, in the great ma- jority of cases, by leaders in the State Work. But the Com- mittee felt and acted under an obligation to be represented. There were emergencies in which this secured for the Inter- national Convention and its Committee a representative wise enough to prevent disaster and to promote endangered fellow- ship. All the time which could possibly be taken from correspond- ence and office work was used for visitation. The first year closing, as did its successors, with the adjournment of the annual Convention, was a year of nine months — October, 1872- July 13, 1873. I attended six State Conventions and visited thirty-four Associations during these months. The call upon the Committee for such visitation by agents in addition to Weidensall and myself steadily increased in urgency. Such a call from the South was presented as early as 1869. In response delegates offered over |1,000 toward the expense involved, and William F. Lee, of New York, a member of the Committee, and George A. Hall, then Secretary of the Washington, D. C, Association, visited acceptably nineteen cities, of which they made report to the Convention of 1870. Early in 1872, Weidensall made a rapid and useful tour through the South, and at the Convention reported good results. In the spring of 1875, and again in 1876, Thomas K. Cree and George A. Hall made two more protracted tours in that section and a demand was urgently made for an addi- tional Secretary who might be. wholly occupied with work at the South. Beginning of the Railroad Work Of the six State Conventions which I attended during this first year, that of Ohio at Toledo— November, 1872 — was the first ever attended by railroad delegates. They reported a very BEGINNING OF GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 113 significant movement begun at Cleveland, Ohio, two years before. One day in the year 1871, the body of a man who had been accidentally killed on the railroad was being carried out of the Union Station in that city. Some one in the crowd asked who had been killed, and the reply was "Only a railroad man." The words reached the ears of a train despatcher, Henry W. Stager, and deeply affected him. He had never been interested in any welfare work, but he felt, vaguely indeed, yet strongly, that — to use his own words — "something ought to be done for railroad men." Recently in his wayward life he had ex- perienced a good influence from the Cleveland Association, when his attention, as a passer-by, had been arrested by one of its open air meetings. To his surprise he saw and tarried to listen to a prominent young business man of the city, Henry A. Sherwin, who, as leader of the meeting, was earnestly giving the gospel message. Now it occurred to him : Why might not railroad men be brought together to listen to such an appeal? Impelled by this desire he called upon his mother's pastor, Dr. Chauncey W. Goodrich, and asked him whether he would come to the railroad station on Sunday afternoon and speak to railroad men, if they were called together. Dr. Goodrich knew of the solicitude which Mrs. Stager felt for her son, and was surprised by such a request from him. He very cheerfully accepted the invitation and Stager succeeded in getting an audience, as well as the speaker. The meetings were continued with the help of Dr. Goodrich and other clergymen, and Stager was converted. For some time the depot master, George Myers, had opened his oflSce on Wednesday evenings, for a prayer meeting for railroad men. The Cleveland Association and its Secretary, Lang Sheaff, had lent cooperation, and now, in accord with suggestion of clergy and laity, the work was placed in charge of a Railroad Committee formed for the pur- pose. Henry Sherwin declined reelection to the presidency of the city Association in order that, as chairman of the new committee, he might be free to give more time to this Railroad Work. A reading room in the station was desired, and first in rank among railroad oflflcials to become interested was James H. Devereux of the Vanderbilt system, and President of the 114 MY LIFE2 WITH YOUNG MEN "0 0. C. & I. R. R." A room in the station was granted with an appropriation for equipment, and for a Superintendent or Railroad Secretary. One of the active Association workers, George W. Cobb, consented to resign a business career and accept the position. A revival interest was awakened in con- nection with this work, which extended beyond the limits of Cleveland. It was soon after the opening of this railroad reading room, in November, 1872, that the Ohio Convention was to meet in Toledo and I was appointed to represent the Committee at its sessions. The day of the dining-car had not arrived, and as the train reached the station I was met at the steps of the car by the Cleveland delegates, who would not allow me to go into the dining saloon, but insisted that I must spend the time allotted to a meal in a visit to this novel Railroad Association reading room, finely equipped and marking the beginning of a work which, they said, "your Committee must promote all over the railroads of the country !" Stager, Sheafif, Cobb, and the President of the Cleveland Association were among the delegates. The sensation created by the report of this new departure was the event of the Convention. The delegates were profoundly stirred and the revival interest was extended by them to the community and churches of Toledo. The in- terest thus awakened was also greatly promoted by another feature, not then in the program of other State Conventions. Following the practice of the International meeting, the dele- gates tarried over Sunday, holding their farewell session on Sunday evening. The delegates spoke in all the pulpits of Toledo, and the whole community felt their influence. The value and importance of this farewell Convention Day was brought by our Committee to the attention of other State Conventions and gradually adopted by all. By the friends in Ohio I was urgently requested to present to the Committee, when reporting their new Railroad Work, the importance of immediate effort to begin a similar work for railroad men at the Grand Central Station in New York. This station had been recently (1871) erected and opened in the development, by Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, of the railroad system, which bears his name. Such an undertaking as this then seemed as impracticable as to attempt a prayer BEGINNING OP GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 115 meeting on the Stock Exchange ! I was very deeply impressed with this beginning of work among railroad men and carried to the Committee as favorable a report concerning it as I could present, suggesting that the work be made one of the subjects for discussion at the next (1873) International Con- vention. But I could not then make on others the profound impression which vital contact with the work itself had made upon me. International Convention of i87S What related to the annual International Convention had now first claim upon the General Secretary. The Lowell Con- vention had voted to hold the meeting of 1873 in San Fran- cisco, if the Committee found it practicable. After much correspondence it was decided that proper arrangements could not be made, and the call of the Committee was issued for delegates to meet in Poughkeepsie, New York. To two Inter- national Conventions I had come as an editor, to listen, to learn, and to report. To Poughkeepsie I came, after having had to do with arrangements for the Convention, and with such experience in the work as caused me to be sought for counsel, by delegates, at the critical point of the most critical discussion. This discussion related to two distinct phases of State Work. In eight states I had participated in conventions, where I had become acquainted with these two phases, which were best exemplified in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. From the beginning, in North America, the historic general evangelistic phase had been, and still was the prevailing one. It was most strongly developed in New England. The Massa- chusetts Committee, composed of a remarkable group of lay- men — including Henry M. Moore, R. K. Eemington, and Rus- sell Sturgis, Jr. — ^had invited, for a second season, K. A. Burnell, an evangelist of Illinois, to be their leader. In the discussion of State Work at Poughkeepsie the Chairman of the Massachusetts Committee, R. K. Remington, reported that, led by this evangelist, members of the Committee had spent one hundred and one days and evenings visiting forty-eight cities and large towns, awakening churches and communities, and that four hundred conversions had resulted. Several of 116 MY LIFE "WITH YOUNG MEN the Committee had given from twenty to thirty days to this inspiring work. A leading pastor had declared that "an or- ganization which had originated and carried forward such a canvass as this, had proved its right to exist." The aggre- gate time given by the members of the State Committee was one hundred and sixty-one days. They traveled collectively 20,000 miles during the canvass. The report made a profound impression. As a type of State Work it had commanded such wide approval that Mr. Burnell had been invited into New Hampshire and a similar work had been begun there. The next season, 1873-4, Burnell led a third canvass in Massachusetts, with similar cooperation and good results. The New Hampshire Committee carried on an equally success- ful series of evangelistic meetings. The following season both Committees employed, from among their own number, evan- gelistic State Secretaries. The Massachusetts example proved contagious, influencing all the New England States. I at- tended their conventions both before and after the Pough- keepsie Convention and sympathized deeply with their genuine hope and intention, that this fruitful evangelistic work should and would result in building up the Associations. It was a work that restored the good name of the Association through- out New England. Upon the friends in these States I urged the importance of securing and employing in the cities a General Secretary for each Association, who should conserve and develop the results of this excellent evangelistic work, in the interest of work for young men. But no immediate re- sponse had followed. A second phase — "work for young men exclusively" — was emphasized by the Pennsylvania Committee. In 1871 it had been the first to put a State Secretary in the field, and for two years Samuel A. Taggart had been successfully at work — a work in which he continued to render invaluable service for eighteen years. For five years he stood alone among the employed agents of State Committees in the primary emphasis he gave to work exclusively for young men. Mr. Taggart reported at Poughkeepsie that, under his leadership, each year a series of public meetings was held by the Pennsylvania Com- mittee, which exerted a strong evangelistic influence, and was accompanied by many conversions. At each place special BEGINNING OP GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 117 attention was given to the local Association. I had had the privilege and advantage not only of attending the Pennsyl- vania Convention, but also of working with Taggart in these meetings and appreciated fully the force of his words as he said, "The State Secretary is not a missionary nor an evan- gelist—though he should always be evangelistic and mission- ary in spirit— but this spirit should be manifested in specific efforts to benefit and build up Young Men's Christian Associa- tions. It is comparatively easy to awaken great temporary enthusiasm; it is quite a different thing to count correctly upon the patient continuance of the members in the work, and upon their not expending all their zeal during the first three months of the first year." In this interesting discussion the New York State Com- mittee also took part. It had been and still was under the leadership of McBurney. One of its members spoke in a dis- heartened tone of the State Conventions, none of which had yet been held over Sunday, and marked by the impressive feature of that closing and crowning Convention Day. The work of visitation had not been accompanied by the evan- gelistic features reported from other states. The diflaculty, removed later, was that the State Committee's search for the Secretary whom they needed had been unsuccessful. The comparison of views and experiences on the fioor of the Poughkeepsie Convention stimulated a continuance, for the present, of both methods of State Work. Neither met the endorsement of the Convention, to the exclusion of the other. Massachusetts then, and for some years afterward, was as confident as Pennsylvania that its Committee was following the right path. In both states, and in others less advanced, Association workers had the same supreme evangelistic aim on behalf of young men. Fellowship with these workers in ten states and provinces, from Nova Scotia to Iowa, made me deeply conscious of this unity of aim — a consciousness which remained unchanged when later the ten became twenty and thirty. The comparison and competition of varying methods was to continue for years, taxing the patience and disciplining the temper, energies, and consecration of fellow workers, who were held together by bonds of faith and sympathy stronger 118 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN than the opinions which might have separated them. Mean- while, as I said at Poughkeepsie : "Pennsylvania with its State Secretary, and the large income — $3,500 — it raises for its Com- mittee is in the van of Association progress, and, naturally in the number of active vigorous societies, is first on the roll of the states and provinces. This position has been reached slowly. It is the product of patient laborious effort. In it concentration upon distinctive work for young men had been given the preeminence." This from its first appointment was also the objective of the International Committee. Another topic discussed at Poughkeepsie related to Bible study and Bible classes. At the two previous Conventions also the topic had been impressively discussed. At Poughkeepsie the person to open the discussion was William H. Thomp- son, M.D., then teacher of the remarkable Bible class of the New York Association, which had an attendance each Sunday of over one thousand. Dr. Thomspon was an Oriental scholar as well as a physician, and followed the lecture rather than the conversational method. His thoughtful address made a profound impression^ and together with the discussion that followed, was one of the influences leading to the continuance in every succeeding Convention of a similar Bible session and discussion. Though a topic relating to the new work among railroad men was not upon the program, on motion of George A. Hall five minutes were given to the Cleveland Railroad Secretary, George W. Cobb, to report that work. He used to boast that he "began speaking as he left his seat, talked all the way to the platform, and all the way returning." He told a vivid story of the significant beginning of a work which was destined to interest profoundly every succeeding Convention. It com- forted me to some extent for the absence of a railroad topic from the program of the Convention. It insured such a topic for the next Convention. General Secretaries' Conference of 1873 Another meeting, as significant as that of the Convention, and as vitally related to Association work and my connection with it, was held in Poughkeepsie during the week preceding the Convention. This was the third annual meeting of the BEGINNING OF GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 119 General Secretaries' Association. Of the first meeting in 1871, account has been given.^ The second was merged in one of the sectional sessions of the Lowell Convention, in 1872. Neither of these had been provided with a carefully prepared program. Each had been limited to a few hours. At the first meeting twelve, and at the second eight more local "paid Secretaries" had become members by signing the Constitution. Now twenty more local Secretaries added their names. It had been agreed that the third annual meeting should begin on the Saturday preceding the Wednesday on which the Inter- national Convention began its session. At this meeting in Poughkeepsie a totally different plan was followed. McBurney, as president at the second, had been made responsible for the program of this third meeting. A rule adopted at his suggestion required that every topic should be introduced by a written paper, read to the conference. It was no easy task at that time to get as many as twelve Secre- taries to write papers upon carefully prepared topics relating to the work of a Secretary. This, however, was accomplished in spite of the fact that some of those who were to present papers, arrived en route at the Association building in New York, pleading lack of facility, and expressing a preference for treating their topics without notes! To such the inexorable McBurney in his oflflce dictated suflScient help to enable them to obey the Median and Persian rule which was being followed. Twenty-nine "paid Secretaries" assembled at Poughkeepsie. The sessions began on Saturday and closed Tuesday evening. To the sessions of this conference, Taggart and I were ad- mitted, but not yet to full or "ordinary membership." The constitution however gave to us standing as "honorary, non-vot- ing members." At the first meeting in 1871 1 had been present as a salaried oflflcer of the International Committee and a reporter, Taggart was present at Lowell as a State Secretary, and we were both assigned, and had prepared papers for the Poughkeepsie meeting. Taggart's paper was upon "The State Secretaryship — Its Field and Duties." Mine was the opening topic, "The OflQce of the General Secretary, Its Name, Origin, and Design." At the next meeting the constitution was changed, and secretaries of both International and State Com- 2 Pp. 80, 81. 120 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN mittees were admitted to the full membership hitherto held only by local Association Secretaries. Nearly four days were given to twelve topics. This allowed time for thorough discussion. Each Secretary after reading his paper passed through a cross examination, some phases of which would have done credit to an attorney of good repute. We all gained a better conception of the secretarial office and also a knowledge of how this conference could be wisely used as a means of helping Secretaries, and of interesting and enlisting men who showed qualification for the vocation. It was the first of fourteen annual conferences which preceded and led up to the Training Schools. It was a genuine training agency. The following cities were among those represented by their Secretaries: Washington, D. C, New York, Harlem Branch, Bowery Branch, Buffalo, Syracuse, Schenectady, Auburn, Poughkeepsie, Kome, Oswego; Philadelphia, Pitts- burg, Germantown, Lancaster; Newark, N. J.; Boston, Wor- cester, Providence, Westerly; Cleveland, Detroit, Toledo; Toronto, Hamilton, Guelph, Port Hope. Erskine Uhl, then Secretary of the Poughkeepsie Associa- tion and afterward, for nearly thirty years, until his death, the faithful and exceptionally qualified Office Secretary of the International Committee, was chosen Secretary-Treasurer. To him and his successors in this office during these fourteen years, was given chief responsibility for the programs of the conferences. The program of each meeting was carefully prepared, in consultation with the office staff of the Interna- tional Committee, and with McBurney, as a member and repre- sentative of the International Committee, and the Nestor of General Secretaries. This annual conference, thus conducted, was during these years the strongest reenforcement granted International and State Secretaries, in their incessant and strenuous endeavor to create among Association Directors an intelligent and wise demand for salaried Secretaries, and then to satisfy this de- mand with qualified men. The attendance increased steadily each year. Some time before each meeting, as General Secre- tary of the Committee, I wrote to the President and Directors of Associations with General Secretaries, setting forth the advantages to them, and to the whole brotherhood, of the BEGINNING OF GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 121 attendance of their employed oflScers. The response was very encouraging. McBurney missed only one session during his lifetime — the one at Oakland, California, in 1887 — and I was present at every one after 1873 until 1915. All the stronger Secretaries were, as a rule, in attendance. In 1879, of one hundred and eighty-six Secretaries then holding ofiSce, one hundred and forty-five were present. It is difiScult to exaggerate the value to the North American Association Movement of the early solicitude for secretarial training of which this conference was one vital expression. Our work-text, iterated and reiterated during these formative years, was : "Pray ye the Lord of the harvest to thrust forth laborers into His harvest." In my own case the full meaning of these words had been deeply impressed upon me by reading a brief pamphlet issued by one of the Foreign Mission Boards in their search for missionaries, in which this sure path to our goal was pointed out most convincingly and the neglect of it was shown to be fatal. God's answer to prayer has been strikingly visible all along the growth of the secretaryship. International, State, and local. The most conspicuous answer was granted us in the fulness of time in the person of the strongest leader of our brotherhood, John Mott, who in turn has performed probably his greatest service in deepening the prayer life of a growing multitude of his fellow disciples and workers. A terse expression of Moody's uttered at this period was so often quoted among us as to deserve mention: "I had rather set ten men at work than do the work of ten men if I could." They gave strong emphasis to the executive quality needed in the secretaryship and later bore fruit in McBurney's anathema upon secretarialism, when he said of the Secretary who was guilty of the sin of doing the work he ought to get others to do : "he is a thief." Each annual session was cheered by the appearance, in some important discussion, of one or more Secretaries of promise and leadership. Thus had appeared and continued to appear as winners of the love and confidence of their brother Secre- taries Robert Weidensall, Thomas J. Wilkie, George A. Hall, Thomas K. Cree, Robert A. Orr, I. G. Jenkins, Henry S. Ninde, George W. Cobb, also David Sinclair, first as a boy-secretary 122 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN from Hamilton, Canada — then as Secretary at Dayton, until the Association there attained a first rank. Among others were Daniel A. Budge Jacob T. Bowne Orlin E. Stockwell Wm. E. Lewis Wm. H. Morriss Charles E. Dyer F von Schluembach A. T. Hemingway W. W. Vanarsdale Henry J. McCoy Humphrey B. Chamberlin E. W. Watkins Edwin D. IngersoU Clarence B. Willis A. H. Whitford I. E. Brown Luther D. Wishard Frank W. Ober Walter C. Douglas George A. Warburton Samuel M. Sayford Fred S. Goodman Charles K. Ober L. Wilbur Messer James and David McConaughy George T. Coxhead Edwin F. See These and other incoming personalities, year by year, strengthened consciousness and clarified vision of the vocation and the vital relation it bore to the work of the beloved brotherhood to which we belonged and to the Church and Kingdom of our Lord of which this brotherhood was a part. To the Poughkeepsie Conference McBurney and I reported our favorable opinion of the conversational Bible class at London, Dublin, and other cities as carried on by British Asso- ciation workers. A strong desire was expressed for the pre- sentation to us of this Bible topic by some of the Bible class leaders from England, and it was agreed to invite W. Hind Smith, the Secretary of the Manchester Association, to come across the Atlantic as the guest of our Secretaries and address on this subject the next Secretaries' Conference and also if practicable the International Convention of 1874. Second Year as General Secretary 1873-74 The second year as General Secretary began with the ad- journment of the Poughkeepsie Convention and its first two tasks were connected with the two meetings at Poughkeepsie. BEGINNING OF GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 123 The Tear Book The first was the preparation and publication of the Pro- ceedings of the Convention and its Supplement, composed of the reports of the International Committee, its agents, and its corresponding members in the states and provinces, together with a table of all the local Associations reporting. It was the beginning of what has since become the Year Book. The Con- vention Proceedings had been, and for several years continued to be the principal part of this annual publication. To the supplement, as hitherto published, I added a table of the ninety-seven State and Provincial Conventions held since the first one met in the autumn of 1866 ; a list of Asso- ciation buildings, thirty-eight in number, valued at $1,914,450 ; a second list of forty-three building funds amounting to nearly half a million dollars; and a third list of fifty Secretaries, including one Railroad Secretary, four assistants, the two employed ofiflcers of the International Committee, and the soli- tary State Secretary from Pennsylvania. The name General Secretary had so little currency that a footnote explained: "By this name is intended the officer of the Association who is salaried, to give all or a specified portion of his time to the work of the society." The supplement also included the tabu- lated reports of four hundred and forty-two Associations, more by eighty-three than had reported in any previous year. The second and more important publication was prepared at the request of the Secretaries' Conference and was entitled "Office Qualifications and Work of the General Secretary." It was the product of a careful editing of the twelve papers and the discussion each had excited at the Poughkeepsie Secre- taries' Conference. Appended to this were the proceedings of the first three Secretaries' Conferences. In this pamphlet was given the substance of the thorough discussion which had been given to each topic during the four days of the conference. The material was arranged so as to treat in succession of "The Office," "The Man," "The Work," and the relation of these to the success of the Association. To the State Secretaryship also a chapter was given. The number of employed officers on its list was then fifty-eight. The pamphlet contained seventy-seven small duodecimo pages. 124 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Later in this year, at the next meeting of the Secretaries' Conference, for four days preceding the Dayton (1874) Con- vention, additional important papers and discussions supple- mented what had been wrought out at Poughkeepsie. These I was able more promptly to edit and publish in a pamphlet of fifty-one pages. These two pamphlets of 1874 were the first attempt to prepare and publish a definition of the oflQce, work, and qualifications of the employed Executive OflBcer of the Young Men's Christian Association. To Secretaries and other Association workers seeking to explain the office and to young men making inquiry concerning the work and qualifications of the General Secretary they proved of value. It was a first step of importance toward that training for an oflSce and vocation, the need and value of which was beginning to be deeply felt by all intelligently interested in Association work among young men. These initial pamphlets indicate how early and promptly the Secretaries in this conference discerned and undertook as a commanding objective the manning of their vocation, then in its infancy. For myself, oflflcially, the task was educative and rewarding. Supplementing intimate fellowship with McBurney and other Secretaries, it yielded an invaluable understanding of what was taught concerning this important office by the best secre tarial experience of that early period. The Secretaries' Con ference continued to be invariably attended by McBurney, Weidensall, George Hall, Thomas Cree, Samuel Taggart Eobert Orr, T. J. Wilkie, Daniel Budge, and other leaders Before the training schools were established (1885-1890) candidates of promise for the secretaryship were invited to attend the sessions and receive the benefit of the information and instruction thus imparted. Visitation and State Conventions In this second year a high water mark was reached in regard to personal visitation of individual Associations. "Sixty-nine visits were made to sixty-four places from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, and from Virginia to Kansas." Five hundred and forty-three persons were met and conversed with and their names and addresses duly recorded. At eight places, eight State and Provincial Conventions were attended. BEGINNING OF GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 125 In Ontario after attendance upon the Provincial Conven- tion, fourteen Associations were visited in company with the Toronto Secretary, Thomas J. Wilkie. Owing chiefly to the continuing efforts of Wilkie, this resulted in securing for five cities Association Secretaries. In this important provision for the work, especially in the smaller cities — as stated in my report of that year — the province of Ontario was placed at that time "clearly in the van of the Association Movement, for of the sixty-six cities on the continent in which Association Secretaries are now employed, ten or nearly one-sixth of the whole number are in this province." The first State Convention in Kansas was called and at- tended during a tour of visitation made at the request of our corresponding member in that state. In the South the only State Convention yet held in Georgia was attended at Augusta. At Eichmond, Virginia, the way was prepared in that state for a similar organization. Throughout this tour in the sad political era of reconstruction, promise was made of an un- precedented delegation from the South to the International Convention of 1874 at Dayton, Ohio. At Eichmond I met my old college friend of the Yale Class of '59, Major Eobert Stiles, who was a veteran Confederate oflScer of the army of northern Virginia, and at this time an honored member of the bar in that state. Col. William P. Munford, one of the leaders in the Associations and Conventions before the Civil War, cordially promised to attend the coming Convention at Day- ton with delegates from Eichmond. Among the more important cities visited this year were St. Louis and Louisville. In both, the Associations of the period before the Civil War had disappeared, and under circum- stances which in each city caused serious opposition to a re- organization. This discovery led promptly to other visits in which I was able to correct misunderstandings and to effect in each instance a satisfactory reorganization. The most thrilling incident of travel experienced during this year occurred on the St. Lawrence Eiver, on board a coasting steamer when within about twenty miles of Quebec. It was a very foggy night and while the river pilot was on the bridge, we were suddenly awakened by a shock which stopped the steamer in mid-river. The vessel had run upon a sunken 126 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN rock, which had penetrated the hull and held her fast, and the water was rising in the hold. The captain ordered all to put on life preservers. There were suflflcient boats for the women and children, but it looked as if the life preservers would prove to be of invaluable service to the men ! We were in suspense for about half an hour, when suddenly the engine was at work again and the steamer began to move. The tide had been rising so rapidly that it had lifted the steamer off the rock. The captain took command, and rounding the southern point of the island, ran the vessel aground where we were safe, though not progressing on our journey! In the morning we discovered we were opposite Oacouna, a summer resort frequented by many citizens from Quebec. It was now high tide and all about the steamer, in the shallow water, were little boats with interested spectators. In one of these a tall man stood up and making a trumpet of his hands, shouted: "Is Eichard C. Morse on board?" He was the Presi- dent of the Quebec Association, my friend William Thompson, who was spending the summer with his family at Cacouna. Knowing that I was coming by this steamer and learning of our plight, he was on his way to look for me. Promptly his brotherly aid was given in forwarding me to my destination. A notable event of the year 1873 was the meeting in America for the first time of an Ecumenical or World's Conference of the Evangelical Alliance. This Alliance was then at the height of its influence as an agency of the evangelical churches. The meeting was held in New York City, and the principal building of our world brotherhood with its ample hall and social and committee rooms offered acceptable accommodation for recep- tion, discussion, and the entertainment of the delegates each day at luncheon. Unfortunately at this time Secretary McBurney was laid aside by a serious illness. In addition, therefore, to serving as a member of the Executive Committee of the conference, I complied with the request of the New York Association and during the period of the conference became acting General Secretary. For a time McBurney was critically ill, and at his urgent suggestion I was approached with the inquiry whether, in case of sore need, I would undertake his offlce. His com- plete recovery solved the problem, and the indispensable pilot BEGINNING OF GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 127 continued at the helm for twenty-five more years of faithful service. The conference proved equal to the expectations of its friends and promoters. A place on the program was ac- corded to the Young Men's Christian Association and a paper introducing the subject was read by the chairman of the Inter- national Committee. The Financial Crisis Enlisting Special Effort Solicitude or responsibility for the Committee's finances hitherto had been wholly absent from the program of its two Secretaries. The long period of financial depression following the Civil War began during this year. The embarrassment of the Committee was only in part due to the prevailing depres- sion. During its first seven years (1866-72) adequate support of the work entrusted to it had been derived from subscriptions made at the Conventions, supplemented occasionally by per- sonal solicitation. But during this eighth year (1873-74), while expenses had unavoidably increased, the amount from collect- able subscriptions was so insuflScient that both the Commit- tee's Secretaries received notice early in the winter that the payment to us of salaries could not be continued. We cheer- fully kept at work, confident that this period of depression would be survived in some solvent way. The growing gravity of this situation did not become known to me until my return, in January, 1874, from protracted visitation in Canada, Kan- sas, and the middle West. Endeavor on a new line of effort now became imperative. The Committee instructed its chairman to draft a letter plainly stating its inability to meet the expense of the work which the Convention had authorized. It was decided that this letter should go out, not as a printed circular, but litho- graphed in the handwriting of the chairman, with the auto- graph signatures of all the members of the Committee. It was written and signed by him in his oflBce, and I immediately went with it, and the peculiar ink needed, to the oflSce of each member, and then to the lithographer, for after it was written with this ink there was need of dispatch in getting it upon the stone from which by this process copies were to be secured. The papyrograph and later methods of duplicating copies were not yet. in use. This letter was sent in January, 1874, to a 12S MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN carefully selected list of Association men throughout the coun- try, who had attended recent Conventions or had met members of the Committee or its Secretaries and had manifested an interest in its work. In Pennsylvania the State Committee from its beginning had placed the same emphasis as had the International Com- mittee upon the planting and fostering of local Associations. As a result there were in that state more vigorous Associations than in any other. The Chairman of their State Committee, H. Kirke Porter of Pittsburgh, had been President of the Poughkeepsie Convention. He was a -strong friend of the International work and associated with him on the Penn- sylvania Committee was a group of fifteen Association leaders and workers. All were among the several hundred to whom the letter was sent. Many replies were received, expressing sympathy and giving counsel. A few also sent financial help, but the reply calling for a definite action by the Committee came from an unexpected source. James McCormick, Jr., of Harrisburg, Pa., a member of the Pennsylvania Committee, wrote saying that the situation seemed to him to call for a conference of the friends interested. He offered to entertain in Harrisburg, for such a conference, the members of the Com- mittee and all friends of the work who would come to take counsel over the serious situation which had been presented to them. This friendly and hospitable offer by one of the laymen leaders of the Association was cordially accepted by the Committee, and March 11th and 12th were appointed as the days of the meeting. The First Parlor Conference at Harrishurg An earnest invitation to this parlor meeting was prepared, conveying the brotherly invitation of its host to his city and home. It was sent to a list of the friends who had shown decided interest in the work of the past eight years. In re- sponse, twenty-five of these friends came to Harrisburg. Only three members of the Committee were able to be present— McBurney, Benjamin 0. Wetmore, Treasurer, and Edgar A. Hutchins, an active and industrious Committeeman. With the light of future developments upon it, this parlor meeting at Harrisburg was an event vitally related to the BEGINNING OF GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 129 future of the Committee's work and of its staff. At the mo- ment it seemed a passing financial crisis of the first magnitude that we were facing and must survive. But this was, in fact, only part of the problem to be solved. The host of the conference, James McCormick, Jr., was already well known and prominent among the public-spirited Christian citizens of large resources in central Pennsylvania. The family, highly respected for generations, belonged to that invaluable part of our citizenship that has come to us from northern Ireland. His ancestor, James McCormick, was one of the signers of the memorable Thanksgiving document re- ceived by King William III, in acknowledgment of the relief sent by him to the beleaguered City of Derry in the seventeenth century (1689). Another branch of the family settled in Virginia, and counts among its members Cyrus H. McCormick, inventor and capitalist of world-wide harvester fame. One of the results of this conference of 1874, was that six years later its host presided at a conference like this one, but held at Chicago in the home of his relative, Cyrus H. McCor- mick. With his brother. Col. Henry McCormick, James Mc- Cormick graduated at Yale in the early fifties. He was one of a group of his fellow-students at Yale resident in Harris- burg, who were prominent and active in Christian work in that city. He was the teacher and leader of a remarkable Bible class, composed of several hundred men, mostly of the laboring classes. One evening of every week they were wel- comed to his home for a social meeting of prayer and confer- ence. His relation to this class was that of pastor as well as teacher. In later years, while walking about the city with Mr. Mc- Cormick from time to time, I was frequently impressed with the recognition and friendly greeting which passed between him and almost every laboring man we met on the street. When a stone edifice was erected by the church to which he belonged, a substantial chapel was included in the plant for the accommodation of this large Bible class; and his pastor once said to me, "I do not know whether I should be called pastor of a church containing a Bible class or of a Bible class with a church attachment." The Harrisburg Association had been one of the most active 130 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN during the Civil War period. To the Convention of 1865 James McCormick, as its Corresponding Secretary, reports for the period then closing (May, 1865) : "Our rooms have been thrown open free of charge to the soldiers of the national army, large numbers of whom have been stationed at this State Capital during the past four years. Our Association has been also the auxiliary of the United States Christian Commission for the central part of the state. Great good has been effected not only among the tens of thousands of soldiers who have been in our camps and hospitals and for the wounded who have been passing through, but in raising funds and supplies for the use of the Commission elsewhere and in sending dele- gates of its own membership to the field to care for the sick and wounded both of the armies of the west and the east. The labors of the Association have been thus widely extended. Many, too, of our young men have gone into the army. Today the Association rejoices in a larger membership, a larger share of public confidence, a more active life than at any time during the ten years of its existence." The International Convention of 1871 at Washington is the only one at which James McCor- mick's attendance had been recorded previous to 1874. In the local Association work he had taken a generous part, and of the Pennsylvania State Committee he had been an active and influential member for the three years since it had begun its more efficient work with a State Secretary. To this conference came the Chairman of the Pennsylvania Committee, H. Kirke Porter,^ who was also the President of the Pittsburgh Association. Other members of the Pennsyl- vania Committee present were : Wm. K. Davenport of Erie, a strong friend and promoter of Railroad Association work; D. E. Small of York, and Thomas K. Cree, a delegate from Pittsburgh to the last six International Conventions, first Chairman of the Pennsylvania Committee, and very active in its excellent work. For several years he had served as Secre- tary of the Pittsburgh Association, having graduated into this position from a successful career in business. But in 1872, when President Grant appointed a special Indian Com- mission, composed of prominent Christian men of business, this Commission, in accord with the recommendation of its 'P. 75. BEGINNING OF GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 131 Chairman, Honorable Felix E. Brunot of Pittsburgh, chose Thomas Oree as its Executive Secretary in responsible rela- tion to the wise expenditure of the millions of dollars used in accomplishing the work expected from the Commission. At the time of this conference (March 11 and 12, 1874) he was acceptably filling this ofBce and was on his way to become an International Secretary of unusual ability from 1876 until his death in 1914. Eussell Sturgis, Jr., President of the Boston Association and an active member of the Massachusetts State Committee, was also present. Thane Miller of Cincinnati was chosen as preeminently the person to preside. On the all-day train between New York and Harrisburg (the journey was longer in hours then than now) the three Committee members and the General Secretary prepared to respond to the inquiries we expected concerning the extent, importance, value, and cost of the Committee's work from its beginning, eight years ago; also concerning where workers and money needed had come from, why more support was now needed than ever before, and how it could be obtained. Pres- ent embarrassment had made it necessary to borrow money on notes, for which Committee members had become person- ally responsible. Upon the replies to these questions might depend not simply an averting of financial disaster, but the growing development of this urgently needed work among young men. The immediate financial emergency necessarily engrossed attention. Underlying this was also the fact that both the Interna- tional and State Work had arrived at a stage of growth very similar to that which had been reached six years before this time by the local work in New York City. At that critical time the fourfold work had been conceived and had called for such development of local Association work as was accom- plished only by a financial expenditure, for both building and employed officer, far in advance of what had been demanded when chief dependence was placed upon volunteer workers and a few rented rooms. So now, in the development of both International and State Work, the time had arrived when an employed staff for correspondence, visitation, and other ac- tivities was essential to the performance of the larger work 132 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN of supervision and extension demanded from these super- visory committees. This was not then discerned as clearly as we now see it in the light of after events, but we made out a strong plea to present to the friends who might come to Harrisburg. The Proceedings The session of the first evening sufficed for introductions and fellowship under the genial presiding influence of Thane Miller. A discussion of the fullest and frankest sort was urged. To this the whole of the next day was devoted. In candidly expressing the serious doubts that he had entertained and had heard expressed by many others concerning the con- tinuance of the Association work, one member of the confer- ence asked whether it was not true that the existence of the Association was due to the fact that the Church was not doing for young men the work it ought to be doing. If this were true was not the remedy to be sought in abandoning the Association, and in awakening the Church to do her duty? To this suggestion more than one adverse reply was made, but the most radical rejoinder came from W. R. Davenport of Erie, who declared that if any proposal of this sort were seriously made, he "would take the next train for Erie." While there was a wide range of discussion, most of the time was thoughtfully spent upon the International Work. What had been accomplished during eight years by the Com- mittee was reviewed, including representation at most of the one hundred and eleven annual meetings of State and Pro- vincial Conventions which had been held. This had promoted the forming of several promising state organizations. We were meeting in the central city of the strongest of these, the only one then having a State Secretary who placed first em- phasis upon definite work among young men. To bring other states to a similar condition was one object being accom- plished by the International Committee. In this work the cooperation of Taggart, State Secretary of Pennsylvania, had been of great value. The enlargement of this needed work by the Committee depended upon its securing a growing number of employed Secretaries. "Why is this necessary ?" was asked. In answer to this question I was able to point to what already BEGINNING- OF GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 133 had been accomplished by Weidensall's work, with its record of over two hundred visits in twenty -two states and interviews with over two thousand persons, as well as my own experience in over one hundred and sixty visits in five Canadian prov- inces and twenty states, and interviews with over twelve hun- dred persons. Instances of success and failure were given with varied illustrations. During the eight years, the total cost in money of the work including publications was a little less than $50,000. Of this sum over thirty-five per cent had been obtained from New York City and Brooklyn. Some years afterward, during a visit in Mr. McCormick's home, Mrs. McCormick asked me why I was called upon to answer so many questions during the first conference. As I seemed to question the fact, she added, "The ladies of the family were sitting in the adjoining room, and while they could hear very little of the proceedings, they heard enough to know that you seemed to be expected to answer most of the many questions that were asked!" I remember vividly the subject matter of the questions as already stated, but for the testimony of the ladies on the subject, I am indebted to Mrs. McCormick. At the close of the day the friends present testified that they had received a favorable impression of the work of the Com- mittee and expressed confidence that if only the facts they had learned could be generally made known, sufiicient support would be given, not only to carry on its present work, but to enlarge it on the lines upon which further advance was im- peratively called for. In the train, during our day journey home, an outline was prepared for a little pamphlet entitled: "The International Work from 1866-1873: Its Plan, Cost, Agencies, and Pros- pects." In this was given a summary of the facts, methods, and program of the work presented at Harrisburg. Soon this pamphlet, with its appeal, was circulated among those who could not be at Harrisburg. It formed part of our preparation for the approaching Convention at Dayton, June, 1874. The Dayton Convention of 1874 It was too late to arrest the financial embarrassment of that fiscal year, and to the Dayton Convention the Committee was 134 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN compelled to report that the salaries of its two Secretaries had not been paid, but that to both of them timely, fair, and full warning of the Committee's inability had been duly given. Anxious deliberation followed, and a striking evidence that the air was blue and the prospect discouraging was the fact that Weidensall, wandering into a committee room, found McBurney in tears! He confessed that the bitter cause of his grief was the bankrupt condition of the International treasury, and the non-employment of its agents. Weidensall tried to comfort him by the assurance that our continuance at work was not to be at all affected by the deficiency in the treasury. In response to its Committee's report, the Dayton Conven- tion heartily voted the continuance of the work and of the Secretaries, and also the payment of the arrears due on salaries as promptly as the money could be secured. The Convention also authorized the continuance of helpful and enlightening conferences like the recent meeting at Harrisburg, where the work could be brought to the attention of friends who could not attend the Conventions, but in these meetings could hear from those who were doing the work. Among the new delegates at the Dayton Convention there came one who soon ranked among the ablest and most remark- able Association leaders of this period. Kev. Frederick von Schluembach was president of an Association he had recently organized in Baltimore, composed of German speaking young men. This was the period when the immigrants to this coun- try from Germany exceeded in number those coming from any other nation. Born in Germany, a Captain in the Union Army during the Civil War ; then an infidel lecturer of the Schopen- hauer school of thought, he had experienced a remarkable conversion of a Pauline type, and had become an eloquent evangelist pastor of the German Methodist Church. By his appeal for Association work among German speaking young men he gained assurance of cooperation from the Convention and its Committee. To the Dayton Convention also was strongly presented the Bible class work of the British Associations by Secretary W. Hind Smith of the Association in Manchester, England. As the guest of the North American Secretaries he had crossed BEGINNING OP GENERAL SECRETARYSHIP 135 the Atlantic and already had attended in Dayton the four days' session of their annual conference. His messages in Dayton, and in Associations visited on this tour, gave impulse to Bible class work. In New York City, McBurney was led to resume teaching a Sunday Bible class for young men which, several years before this, owing to an excess of diffidence, he had shrunk from continuing when the Association moved into its new building. During the hour following this class, accord- ing to English precedent, tea was served. Many other Secre- taries, by the urgency of Secretary Smith and the example of McBurney and of Robert Orr in Pittsburgh, were influenced to teach Bible classes of young men. A topic upon Association work among railroad men was part of the program of the Dayton Convention. It was opened by W. W. Van Arsdale, then a Secretary in charge of an Asso- ciation reading room which had been opened in the Rock Island railroad station in Chicago. Soon afterward Van Arsdale became the General Secretary of the Chicago Associa- tion. To the Dayton Convention Col. William P. Munford brought from the Richmond, Va., Association a "cordial" and "unani- mous" invitation to hold the Convention of 1875 in that city. Right of way among all competitors was given to this welcome invitation from the South, and the vote to meet in Richmond was made unanimous with enthusiasm. To Dayton and its young men the event of the conference was a negotiation with the International Committee con- cerning a man for General Secretary of the City Association. To the friends making the request, David A. Sinclair was introduced. He was then in the oflQce and work of the Association in Hamilton, Ontario, as its General Secretary. He had been present the previous year in Poughkeepsie at the third meeting of the Secretaries' Conference and had made a very favorable impression on all of us who had met him there. At Dayton he was again with us during our Secretaries' Conference before the Convention met. He ac- cepted the call from Dayton and began a memorable term of service in that city. He was absent from only three meetings of the Secretaries' Conference between 1873 and 1890. To the conferences of '77 and '78 he read interesting papers and 136 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN in 1888, in the fifteenth year of his service in Dayton, he dealt by special request witH the congenial theme: "The advantage to the Secretary and the work of patient perseverance in one field." He continued in ofiflce another fourteen years, and at his death Dayton mourned the loss of its first citizen. CHAPTER VIII CONFEEENCES AND CONVENTIONS NEAK AND FAR Third Year as General Secretary 1874-75 Promptly upon the adjournment of the Dayton Convention, the Proceedings with its supplement (Year Book of 1874) was issued. The tabulated reports of four hundred Associa- tions showed an advance beyond the preceding year. New features were reports from over one hundred Associations in Europe, and a table of the World Conferences. First atten- tion was also given to a financial correspondence, especially with Associations and friends absent from the Convention, that the Committee might meet the most pressing calls for extension of its work and yet never again come to a Convention at the end of a fiscal year with the report of a deficit. An important extension of Association work at the South was undertaken this year (1875) by a remarkable tour of George A. Hall, Secretary of the Washington, D. C, Associa- tion, and Thomas K. Cree, formerly General Secretary at Pittsburgh, and now Secretary of the Special Indian Com- mission appointed by President Grant. During the eighty- two days devoted to this work, thirty-one cities were visited, from Hagerstown, Maryland, to Houston, Texas. It was the most thorough visitation yet accomplished at the South and a wise preliminary to the meeting of the next Convention, to be held at Richmond, Va. Another significant tour of visitation was made in the in- terests of German speaking young men by Frederick Von Schluembach. According to the plan he suggested at Dayton he had summoned to Baltimore, in October, 1874, in the name of the Committee, a meeting of a National Bund of German Associations. Chairman Brainerd and I were present and welcomed the Bund as an auxiliary of our Convention. Von Schluembach was chosen General Secretary and consented to make a tour of investigation and organization. He visited X37 138 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN wisely selected cities in twelve states, from New Haven, Conn., to Louisville, St. Louis, and St. Paul, and in the next Year Book a tabulated report of thirty German speaking Associa- tions was given. Special funds for both these tours were secured, and James Stokes, Jr., a member of the Committee, generously gave his invaluable help. Half of the amount needed — $1,600 — was given in New York City. Two Phases of Association Work The correspondence was greatly increased by these and other calls. I attended five State and Provincial Conventions. Weidensall attended also one State, one County, and two District Conventions at the West, and Hall and Cree three State Conventions at the South. For all the other conventions, experienced representatives of the Committee were secured. Contact with the conventions made it evident that the general evangelistic work was still growing in New England. To Massachusetts and New Hampshire, Vermont was added, and one thousand conversions reported in that state. The develop- ment of local Association work in the large cities and search for qualified Secretaries as essential factors in this develop- ment did not appear in their program, nor among the results of their State work. But the work was helpful to the churches and communities of the places visited. It excited profound gratitude to the earnest, exemplary laymen who were carrying it on. They were promoting the good name, and were seeking to promote equally the efficiency of the Associations, but the distinctive work for young men was not developed by it. A better way to do this, their fellow workers in other states were discovering. In due time the same discovery would be made in New England. Of the six State Committees which this year reported the employment of State Secretaries, only one — that of Pennsyl- vania — was carrying on a work of visitation which was con- cerned chiefly with promoting distinctive work by and for young men. The other five were doing "general evangelistic work on the New England plan." Second Harrisiurg Conference The Dayton Convention authorized . the holding of confer- ences similar to the one held in Harrisburg, and in response CONFERENCES AND CONVENTIONS 139 to James McCo,rmick's second invitation, a second confer- ence, larger than the first, met in his home January 26th, 1875. The results of the first meeting and its influence in increasing contributions offered at Dayton were carefully reviewed. The extension of the work through visitation in the South and among the Germans was considered in the light of the tax they laid upon the treasury. It was very clearly seen that continued special effort must be made to secure help from friends who did not attend the Convention. Russell Sturgis, Jr., promised to interest friends in Boston, Porter and Jennings offered to add to the list in Pittsburgh. It was now that James McCormick became the Committee's second annual contributor of |500, a sum which Wm. E. Dodge had for some time been giving annually. The corresponding members of the Committee for Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan united and held together parlor conferences at Fort Wayne, Ind. As a result of increasing solicitude for the sup- port of the Committee's work, the money for both tours of visitation was fully secured. Erskine Vhl — Office Secretary The growing responsibilities of the General Secretary, created by the growth of the work, made necessary a competent Office Secretary. For several years I had become intimately acquainted with Erskine Uhl, then Secretary of the Pough- keepsie Association, an active member of the State Com- mittee, and also corresponding member for New York of the International Committee. His superior ability in office work and administration fitted him, as I thought, to do the best work of which he was capable in such an office as that of the In- ternational Committee. Visiting Poughkeepsie, I found that those who knew him best, agreed to the wisdom of such a change for him. These friends offered subscriptions to an amount (|700) which justified the Committee in adding to its staff this urgently needed Office Secretary. His teacher in the Sunday school which he attended as a boy headed the list of donors. As I was leaving Poughkeepsie, my friend Edmund P. Piatt, the President, who was one of the donors, said to me : "Do you not think it somewhat unseemly on your part not only to take away our Secretary, but to take from 140 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN US also the money your Committee needs to keep him ?" "Not if I can send you a stronger man as a substitute," I replied, "and this I promise to endeavor to do." As a result of such promise and endeavor Secretary George A. Hall, of Washing- ton, D. 0., began to earn his title of "Discoverer of General Secretaries," by calling my attention to a well-qualified young man in that city, William H. Morriss, who was promptly secured by the Poughkeepsie Association and for six years proved a most acceptable Secretary, until he was called to Baltimore where he is now (1917) spending the thirty-fifth year of his second secretaryship, full of blessing upon the young men and boys of that great city — a Christian citizen of first rank and commanding influence. In the summer of 1875 Erskine Uhl began in the Committee's office an in- valuable work in which he continued with growing efficiency for thirty-two years until the close of his life. It was the beginning of a business efficiency in our office administra- tion for which I was wholly incompetent, but which was so carefully fostered by this admirable Office Secretary and his successors that it has grown as steadily as the Committee's work itself in extent, complexity, and efficiency. The Richmond Convention, 1875 The fact that the Convention was meeting this year in the South made it very desirable that the sessions should be presided over by a qualified leader from that section of the country. Major Joseph Hardie, of Selma, Alabama, an ex- Confederate Army officer, and a public-spirited citizen of his city and state, was a delegate qualified for the position. A graduate of Princeton College in the class of 1856, he had been actively identified with the Association work before the Civil War, and had been prominent and influential in creating, in Alabama, the first state organization formed in that section of the country. Not long after his death,, at an advanced age, in 1914, Mrs. Hardie told me that he had left an estate of only |15,000, yet during his life he had given to good objects over $250,000. "He would have left a larger estate," she added, "if I had not been fully provided for financially." Soon after our interview she also passed on to her reward, CONFERENCES AND CONVENTIONS 141 Both Cree and I, while in the South, had met Major Hardie, and knew him very well. He thus describes Mc- Burney's vigilant connection with the Major's election as President: "At the Richmond Convention in 1875, McBurney came to me and said, 'The New England brethren want to make a New England man President of this Convention. It will never do for a New England Yankee to hold that position.' We decided that Major Hardie was the man for the place. Now, as far as I know, there was not a soul in that Con- vention who had heard of Hardie, except Hall, McBumey, Morse, and myself, but he was made President of the Con- vention. The Lord's hand was in it, as well as McBurney's. But McBurney was the agent who did the business." The third triennial term of the International Committee ended at the Richmond Convention. Without discussion, but with enthusiastic expression of appreciation its seven mem- bers were reelected. To them were added two members, Wil- liam E. Dodge, Jr., and Morris K. Jesup, making a quorum of nine resident in New York. Fifteen additional members from other cities were also chosen. Among them were Thane Miller, of Cincinnati, James McCormick, Jr., of Harrisburg, H. Kirke Porter, of Pittsburgh, Russell Sturgis, Jr., of Boston, Joseph Hardie, of Selma, and John S. Maclean, of Halifax — men well selected from among those who had become intelligently sym- pathetic with the program and objective of the Committee's work. Work among Railroad, German, and College Young Men In the topic discussed at the Dayton Convention : "How can the Association reach all classes of young men?" emphasis was laid upon work among railroad men, German citizens, and college students. This emphasis was increased at Richmond. The Cleveland delegates came with a definite proposition. They- had put in a bank over |200 which was offered to the International Committee, for the promotion by an Interna- tional Secretary of Association work among railroad men. After full discussion the Committee was authorized to accept the proposal. Such testimonies were given by delegates from the South concerning results of the tour of Cree and Hall, that a con- 142 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN tinuation of the work was importunately requested. A larger staflE for the Committee was advocated on the floor of the Con- vention. Dr. William Nast, for nearly forty years a worker and leader in the American German Methodist Church, spoke of what von Schluembach had accomplished and pled for this work on behalf of his German speaking fellow countrymen. Before the adjournment at Eichmond the delegates listened for the first time in the history of the Conventions to an urgent plea for an extension of the work of its Committee among students in schools and colleges. In November, 1874, I improved an opportunity to meet with a group of Yale students in New Haven and later in the fol- lowing winter made a stronger effort to promote at Yale a beginning of Student Association Work. President Noah Porter, who had been one of my instructors and friends during my college course, came to New York to address the City Association. As the guest of its President, William E. Dodge, Jr.j I met him at dinner and expressed the strong conviction I felt that the class deacons and other Christian students at Yale would be helped in the good work they were doing by the adoption of some of the methods which had been tested and found effective by our Associations in their work among young men. The President was favorably impressed and asked me whether I would present the subject to a meeting of students whom he would be glad to call together for the purpose. Accordingly a few weeks afterward (February, 1875) in one of the large upper rooms of Alumni Hall — a building since removed — I met about two hundred undergraduates, including the deacons of the different classes. President Porter presided, and after his introduction they listened to as strong an appeal as I could make for the change which seemed to me desirable. After the public meeting was over the class deacons tarried for a conversation with me, and some of them seemed to be favorably impressed. At that time, however, no change re- sulted, chiefly because my time and energies were so absorbed by other duties that I could not improve the opportunity pre- sented. A year later I learned that what I was attempting, was at that very time beginning to be accomplished by an undergrad- uate at Princeton. Luther D. Wishard, the student whom CONFERENCES AND' CONVENTIONS 143 Weidensall had met and influenced in 1871, and who in the following year had been a student delegate at the Lowell Con- vention, was now at Princeton in his junior year. Being still an undergraduate, he had a better opportunity than I to ac- complish in his senior year the Student Association organi- zation which we both at that time believed would be a change for the better in the methods followed by Christian students in carrying on Christian work in college. In this endeavor to promote Student Association Work, an- other interesting interview occurred this year with my friend, President Martin B. Anderson, of Rochester University, who consented to prepare for our Convention at Richmond, a paper on Association work in colleges. Though he was not able to attend and present his paper at Richmond, I read to the delegates his convincing treatment of the subject. It closed with an expression of confident expectation of "the time when your organization will be represented in all the colleges and schools of our land. Let your Secretary visit these young men, and let them have your sympathy and cooperation." Not long after this, both Convention and Committee were able, in accord with this appeal of President Anderson, to plant Associations in colleges. This and the other calls for a larger staff were very urgent. Instead of temporary visitors at the South, and among German young men and railroad employes, permanent workers must be secured, and a work among students must be part of the program of the Committee. This called for an increase in the annual budget not of twenty, but of fifty per cent. The Committee had come to the Convention with no deficit, although its annual expenditure had exceeded by nearly thirty per cent that of the previous year. This solvency had been accomplished more speedily than was anticipated at Dayton. It was a great surprise and encouragement for me to receive an enthusiastic standing vote of thanks from the Convention. What had been accomplished financially was due to obtaining money by other appeals than those made at this annual Con- vention. Indeed, much of what was offered by delegates at Dayton, and still more of the subscriptions announced at Richmond, were due to a solicitation between Conventions by correspondence, parlor conference, and personal efifort. 144 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN For the coming year a budget of $20,000 was voted. But pledges announced on the floor amounted to less than half this sum and of these the largest were offered on behalf of absent donors who already had been enlisted. The continu- ance of their support was based on the continuance of suc- cessful solicitation. Fellowship With the South The event of the Convention was the coming together more intimately than in any meeting since the Civil War of fellow workers from north and south. At the very impressive fare- well meeting, Russell Sturgis, Jr., of Boston, who had been an ofHcer in the Union Army, said : "There is no such brother- hood in the social sphere as binds together the members of this convention. We are fellow citizens of a city of heavenly foundations. We hold indeed many differing opinions. On this platform stand two at least who on opposite sides in the late Civil War took their lives in their hands, both of them — I say it very deliberately — on principle (applause). This blessed bond of Jesus united us even in those times of conflict, so that as I rode beside a Confederate ofScer and learned he was a Christian man, we were on the instant united firmly, to the wonder of the troop who rode behind us. Of this blessed fellowship we have experienced in this Association and its work, a foretaste of what we are to realize by and by in the assembly of the just made perfect. God keep us very humble that we may have the spirit of Paul when he wrote: 'I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling . . . but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.' "^ "After a profound silence," says the report, "broken only by sobs here and there in the audience, a beautiful solo was sung and the whole congregation rose and joined in singing. After many requests for prayer there followed a season of praise and intercession." Friendships that were lifelong and fruit- ful in Christian work were among the results of this Con- vention. Two urgent offers were received to entertain the Convention of the centennial year of 1876. One of these came from Toronto, Canada, and the other from Chicago. According to 'Proceedings of the Twentieth National Convention, p. 109. CONFERENCES AND CONVENTIONS 145 the usual rule, five minutes were accorded for the presentation and advocacy of each invitation. Two speakers divided the five minutes given to each. After the four pleas had been listened to and before the vote was taken the President called on a delegate to offer prayer. The good brother happened to be ardently in favor of accepting the invitation from Chicago, and could not resist indicating this preference in a prayer that was of an argumentative character, and not restricted by a time limit. At its close the vote was taken. The tellers reported ninety-four in favor of Toronto and eighty-eight for Chicago. Often afterward I heard from fellow delegates of a discerning mind, that in their opinion if that prayer had not been offered the Chicago invitation would have been ac- cepted ! But it was very fitting that the Convention of 1876 should meet under the British and Canadian flags as token of the loyalty of the brotherhood to the International bond of peace and fellowship which had united the two nationalities from the beginning of these Conventions in 1854. Though the Convention adjourned at the end of May, the report of the proceedings, with a supplement of tables, a pamphlet of two hundred and nine pages, was published in season for me to carry copies in July to the World's Confer- ence at Hamburg. Fourth Year of the General Secretaryship 1875-76 The World's Conference of 1875 At the beginning of the fourth year as General Secretary, part of the summer was spent in the first trip undertaken solely to represent the Committee at the World's Conference. For this triennial meeting at Hamburg in August, 1875, two American papers had been prepared in response to the report brought three years before by McBurney and myself concerning the previous conference at Amsterdam. The theme of one paper was "The Christian and Social Im- portance of the Associations in North America" by Benjamin C. Wetmore, Treasurer of the Committee. In the other, "What Has Been Accomplished by the North American Associations" I sought to give the facts about the work on this continent. At the suggestion of Chairman Brainerd, both papers had 146 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN been translated, and were printed in French, German, and Dutch, as well as in English, for circulation at Hamburg. In packing them for shipment copies were added of the few pamphlets on the work and on the secretaryship then in circulation. For this journey and its successors, undertaken for the fol- lowing twenty years to attend World's Conferences, there was no money in the Committee's treasury. But I felt able to make this journey at my own expense. McBurney went to the steamer with me, to say good-bye, and I remember being sur- prised that he did not then share my feeling of obligation to carry a message concerning our work to a Conference which three years before we had found was out of touch with our North American Associations, though these formed the strong- est of the movements the Conference was created to represent and to serve. For the first — and as it proved, the only time — I set out on this tour abroad unaccompanied. On the way to Hamburg a week was spent in London, renewing and increasing acquaint- ance with the brethren. The pleasure experienced was greatly promoted by the fact that the first remarkable evangelistic campaign of Moody and Sankey in Great Britain had just then been completed, including a notable work in London itself. In all the places where the influence of these two friends and fellow workers was felt, their words of commen- dation of the Association had promoted its work. This was emphatically true in London. At Hamburg it was a great pleasure to meet again Christian King and Pastor Krummacher from Germany, Pastor Paul Cook from Paris, Von Oosterwicjk Bruyn, of Holland, and George Williams, Shipton, Hind Smith, and other British dele- gates — some of whom were at Amsterdam three years before, and all of whom since then had been helped in their work by the cooperation of Moody and Sankey. William F. Lee, a director of the New York Association, and a former treasurer of the International Committee, met me in Hamburg, as a fel- low delegate. Each of us read one of the American papers, copies of which were distributed to the one hundred and thirty-five delegates present from seven countries. For the first time in the history of the Conference, every delegate was CONFERENCES AND CONVENTIONS 147 able to follow two of the speakers in a language which he could understand. This was greatly appreciated, and at the close there was an unprecedented opportunity for delegates to ask questions and enter promptly into a discussion. This greatly promoted a better understanding by the delegates of the work of a group of Associations more numerous, with a larger membership, and engaged in a work broader, more diversified, better equipped, and more strongly manned than was as yet being accomplished in any of the countries where Associations had been organized. This innovation met with hearty approval and at succeeding Conferences was followed by delegates from other countries. Shipton was among the conservative minority. While the American papers were being read he absented himself, apolo- gizing to me afterward by saying that he knew he would be able afterward to read them. But when lively discussion followed the reading, as in duty bound, he promptly returned to the hall to listen. He was very frankly distrustful of any propaganda of a work, the method and scope of which he dis- trusted as tending to minimize, and make less permeating and controlling, the positive religious and spiritual activities of Association workers. As at Amsterdam three years before, so now in Hamburg, I became aware that these views and apprehensions were not shared by many of his British fellow delegates. Secretary W. Hind Smith, of Manchester, who had been in Dayton at our Convention and also at the Secretaries' Conference, could not agree with the convictions of Shipton. The work and influ- ence of Moody had also given favorable impressions concerning Association work in America. Returning home through England, I visited several Associa- tions. It was my first experience of a tour of this character in Europe. At every place cordial hospitality was extended to me. A hotel was rarely resorted to. In London and Birmingham at the Sunday afternoon Bible classes; in Bristol and Manchester at meetings of the managing committees; in Liverpool at a conference of the Associations of that neighbor- hood; and in Glasgow at a meeting of the young men active in the work, opportunity was enjoyed to get acquainted with interesting phases of the Association work. 148 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN At Eyde, on the Isle of Wight, entertainment at the "Home for Rest and Recreation for Commercial Young Men" was car- ried on by the united efforts of the Associations in London and Eyde. This was an excellent undertaking to which George Williams had substantially contributed, and by means of which over four hundred young men enjoyed wholesome holi- day recreation each year. It suggested the need of similar vacation provision by our own Associations. Another feature of the work specially worthy of imitation was the serving of tea after Bible classes, and at other times, a hospitality in vogue among the British Associations, and already followed by McBurney in connection with his Sunday afternoon Bible class. During my return voyage, on the steamer Ethiopia of the Anchor Line, I experienced the only serious accident that has befallen me while crossing the Atlantic over forty times. Some thirteen hundred miles east of New York a section of our shaft broke. Captain Craig was the Commodore of the Line. Kennedy, its chief engineer, was in the engine room, so we were in good hands. The steamer, like most ocean liners at that time, was rigged with masts and sails, and the rule, in case of such an accident, was for the steamer to seek the port, whether of departure or destination, to which prevalent winds could carry her by sail. This rule called for our return to Glasgow, but Kennedy proposed to the Captain an alter- native. On a previous voyage in a similar emergency, this engineer, while the steamer was returning under sail and within ninety miles of Glasgow, had succeeded in splicing the shaft so that the remaining distance was accomplished under her own steam. Captain Craig now granted Kennedy's re- quest, that he be allowed again to splice the shaft. With his men the engineer spent the following ten days in the tunnel, where the workers could not stand upright, but where they accomplished the difficult job. During this time, by the use of her sails, the steamer was prevented from going to the east- ward, though no progress was made westward. The ship's company, including the crew and a steerage full of emigrants, numbered over eleven hundred persons. Among the passengers was the late Samuel J. Barrows, who was after- ward widely known and honored in the pulpit, and later, as CONFERENCES AND CONVENTIONS 149 one of the leading penologists of our country. He was equally prominent in the cause of international peace. Indeed in every situation he was ready to take the lead in any good work. He and his wife joined heartily in efforts to entertain and occupy the minds of this large ship's company. Both were good lec- turers and offered entertainment in that line. Mrs. Jarley's waxworks also were successfully presented. Accounts of my ascent of Mt. Blanc and other adventures were in demand. Another welcome helper was a fellow student at Yale, who was for a time a classmate, Professor Adrian J. Ebell, direc- tor of "The International Academy of Natural Science." He was returning home from a trip abroad with a class of his pupils. He lectured on the deep sea, its animal life; also on the flora of the ocean, calling our attention to the vegetable life on its surface, and one vei'y quiet day he was lowered over the side of the vessel to gather specimens for his next lecture. The chief steward was puzzled how to keep up his bill of fare. We were reduced to three meals a day, and his stock of canned materials, provided against emergencies, was rapidly disap- pearing. Every day, toward evening, Mr. Barrows and I conducted a service of song in the steerage, with reading of Scripture, comment, and prayer. The hymn which became the favorite at these services was "Safe in the Arms of Jesus," and I never listen to' the singing of it without recalling vividly that scene and audience on shipboard. While the shaft was being spliced, the small steamer Maas, on her way to New York, came within hailing distance. The mail we were carrying was passed over to her, and the Captain sent word that though delayed we declined assistance. This message, in the absence of wire- less telegraphy, carried to our friends at home some assurance concerning our safety. On the eleventh day the shaft was spliced and we began to move westward at half speed. After a little progress we again stopped and another day was needed for final repairs. Twenty-three days from Glasgow we welcomed the green shores of Long Island ! It was a beautiful sunny day, and every one was on deck to attend the praise service which had been an- nounced. I read a part of the 107th Psalm, and verses of praise and thanksgiving from other Psalms. As often as I repeated 150 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN the refrain: "Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men," the audience sang the familiar line, "For His mercy endureth forever." At first only a few voices took part, but gradually the volume of sound increased, until from a thousand voices the music of a unanimous thanksgiving floated over the ocean. It was one of the most impressive services of song I ever listened to. Mr. Barrows wrote some verses on this voyage and our experiences which I deeply regret not having preserved. When the story of his "Sunny Life," so admirably told by Mrs. Barrows, was recently published, it was a disap- pointment not to find in the supplement, among his hymns and other verses, those written during this voyage. An admirable article by him appeared in the Scientific American, fittingly describing the feat engineer Kennedy had accomplished. We were told at the time that this was the first instance in ocean navigation when a shaft was spliced so successfully. The steamer was allowed by the authorities to return to Glasgow in ballast, under her own steam, without further substantial repair. State Conventions and Parlor Conferences This detention on the sea prevented my attendance upon the New York State Convention, one of the 25 held this year to which 416 Associations sent 1,517 delegates. At all these Conventions in Canada and the United States, the Committee was represented, and I was able to attend four of the number. Ten of the twenty-five Committees were employing State Secre- taries. New York had secured George A. Hall, who for nearly ten years had been the eflScient General Secretary of the Asso- ciation at the National Capital. Dr. Munhall, as Indiana Secretary, was emphasizing work for young men while also doing the work of an evangelist. The general evangelistic work still prevailed in the other states. In the development of the International Work and workers this was a year (1875-6) of promise, although it continued to be a year of financial depression throughout the country. Ever since the autumn of 1873 this depression had continued. So invariable, if not monotonous, had become the confession of the donors : "You know we are losing money this year and CONFERENCES AND CONVENTIONS 151 . . . ," that it was a startling surprise when, for the first time in years, I heard the acknowledgment from one of our friends that his business was in good condition and he could increase his contribution. Only two conferences of the Harrisburg type were held in this year. The first met in Baltimore at the home of Mr. W. W. Spence. William E. Dodge, Jr., was the member of the Committee who agreed to preside. We journeyed together to Baltimore, and he assumed the part of a friendly doubter as to the promise and prospect of the Association work — ^local, State, and International. In this clever, characteristic way he became posted, .by hearing from me the best plea for the entire work which could then be made in the light of recent developments. He presided, as always, in excellent winning form. A new group of friends became interested in a knowl- edge and understanding of the work of the Committee, more intimate than could be obtained in public and less conversa- tional meetings. At the invitation of John V. Farwell, Senior, a second con- ference met in Chicago, at the Grand Pacific Hotel. James McCormick, Jr., came from Harrisburg to attend and preside. Both conferences confirmed the Committee and its friends in the wisdom of promoting the holding of such meetings. It was during this visit to Chicago that I had the pleasure for the first time, of meeting Mr. and Mrs. Cyrus H. McCormick, who became friends of the work, Mrs. McCormick beginning that lifelong interest— continued now (1917) for over forty years — ^in the International section of it. How her sympathy and cooperation have been among the strongest factors in promoting the world wide extension of the work, will appear later in this narrative.^ Beginning of the Committee's Railroad Department Already to three Conventions delegates had reported, with increasing enthusiasm, a growing Association work among rail- road men. To the Richmond Convention was brought the offer of money and a man — Secretary Lang Sheafif, of Cleveland — for temporary service in extending this work, and during the six months spent by Sheafif in this service. Railroad Branches . 2 P. 381. 152 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN were begun at ten railroad centers, including Baltimore, Altoona, Jersey City, Boston, Springfield, Massachusetts, Detroit, and New York City. What was accomplished in con- nection with his visit to New York was most vitally related to the future extension of the Railroad Work. This was due to our enlistment there of the permanent in- terest of Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr. He was then Treasurer of the Harlem branch of the New York Central Road, of which his father, William H. Vanderbilt, was Vice-President and his grandfather. Commodore Vanderbilt, whose name he bore, and whose confidence he enjoyed, was President. The private secre- tary of the Vice-President was his second son, William K. Vanderbilt. Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr., had lately become a director of the New York Association. A meeting of railroad men to hear Mr. SheafiE had been arranged for a Sunday after- noon in October, 1875, in the Pennsylvania Railroad freight depot in Jersey City. On Saturday I called at the office of Mr. Vanderbilt to ask him to attend this meeting. It was the first time we had met. He was interested in my story about the work in Cleveland, and especially in the part taken by President Devereux in encouraging and supporting it. He knew that Devereux fully commanded the confidence of his father and grandfather. He accepted the invitation to attend the meeting in Jersey City, where he was favorably impressed by Sheaflf's address and asked me to call with Sheaflf at his olHce. This led to the opening October 31, 1875, of well equipped rooms in the Grand Central Station.^ Later Mr. Vanderbilt became Chairman of the Railroad Committee of the New York Association, then a member of the International Committee and chairman of its Committee in charge of the extension of the Railroad Work. Thus under his vigilant supervision this work was carried on in New York and at other railroad centers, where it was carefully adapted to local conditions and the environment of railroad employes. James Stokes as a mem- ber of the International Committee and a director of the New York Association was actively identified with the be- ginning of this Railroad Branch. At Cleveland he had be- come acquainted with Stager and Sheafif, the leaders in the work there. He had lent a hand in interesting Mr. Vander- s Pp. 112-115, 390. CONFERENCES AND CONVENTIONS 153 bilt. For the first meeting in the Grand Central Station, (Oct. 31, 1875) he had provided the service of song, and in December he became a member of the Committee of Manage- ment of the Eailroad Branch and ever since for forty-two years has continued a member. At this time, in conversation with Cyrus W. Field, I men- tioned the growing interest of Mr. Vanderbilt in our work. He congratulated me and added: "Young Vanderbilt is very highly thought of by his grandfather. The Commodore said to me the other day : 'I am very proud of my grandson Corneel. He is a trustworthy young man. Do you know I would be willing to send him abroad with a blank check signed -by me.' Such a remark from the Commodore is certainly very unusual." Some years later, after the death of the grand- father, his will was found to contain a special bequest to this grandson, which gave evidence of the special regard for him he had expressed to Cyrus Field. Thomas K. Cree lecomes an International Secretary Of the year between the Eichmond and Toronto Conventions the most signal event for me was the securing of Thomas K. Cree as a Secretary of the Committee. The term of President Grant's Indian Commission had expired, and very promising opportunities were offered to Secretary Cree to continue permanently in government service in Washington. Other opportunities also were offered of a return to business, where he had been very successful. Among these offers was one from John Wanamaker, who years afterward thus writes of it : "I invited him to come into my business at its initial stage. He was wise enough to have the larger vision of laying up treasure in Heaven." Four years before this time, as already mentioned, I had been anxious to secure Cree's cooperation on the staff of the Committee as publisher of the Association Monthly because of his ability as a business man, and his eflSciency and consecration as an Association worker. Both of these qualities had been conspicuous in the work he had done in the South. Probably at that time no employed oflflcer in the brotherhood was his superior in ability and efiSciency. The Richmond Convention had authorized an annual ex- penditure by the Committee of |20,000. From subscriptions 154 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN offered there, less than $8,000 was received. Some friends, appreciating the situation, offered special help. At this time I made my first call on William Thaw, the Christian philan- thropist of Pittsburgh, who was already an annual contributor of |200. For one hour each morning Mr. Thaw answered the front door bell of his own home in the city, and was willing to listen to all appeals then brought to him. I shall never forget that first interview! He listened patiently and replied that he had known Thomas Cree for many years, heartily ap- proved the plan proposed, and would like to give the whole sum needed. If by adding |500 to his annual subscription he could materially help, he would be glad to promise this sum. This contribution justified the Committee in calling Mr. Oree. By his generous act Mr. Thaw joined Messrs. Dodge and Mc- Cormick in giving regularly more than any other annual donors to the work of the Committee, and for some time his gift of $700 was the largest of the three. Later, all three greatly increased their gifts. I began to see that there was in the work — ^in the extent of its field and of its objective^an appeal to some men of means that made possible larger individual gifts than I had thought of asking for. The Committee's expenditure for this fiscal year ending in July with the Toronto Convention was $14,500. Of this amount twenty per cent came to the Committee in a few gifts, including the three just referred to. In 1880, of $24,500 received, $7,300, or thirty per cent, was given by nine donors. Probably at this early period no one was as deeply impressed with this fact, and the meaning of it, as was the General Secretary of the Committee. Evangelistic Meetings of Moody and Sankey, New York, 1876 The autumn of 1875 was signalized by the return of Moody and Sankey from Great Britain, where they had made an evangelistic tour which had so commanded popular sympathy that there was great eagerness and preparation by clergy and laity in New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Chicago, and other cities to welcome them to a similar work at home. Moody and Sankey were in Brooklyn in December, 1875, and in Philadelphia during January, where, in response to Moody's request, Cree acted as Executive Secretary of the CONFERENCES AND CONVENTIONS 155 Committee in charge of all business details of the campaign. The International Committee released him from its staff for this work. For the meetings in New York the Hippodrome— a building then covering the block since occupied by the Madi- son Square Garden — was secured and fitted up. With Mc- Burney and others I served on the Executive Committee in charge of these meetings. One item of preparation was the forming of a class in the Association, by McBurney and myself, the object of which was the study of the Bible for its use with inquirers. It was formed during December because of the need of workers who could use the Bible, as Moody was then teaching its use to those who were helping him in the inquiry room. It was a new method of Bible study for Christian workers, introduced and advocated by him in the pressure of his need of friends who could deal intelligently with those who were awakened at the preaching and song services, and who desired to begin the Christian life. During his meetings in Brooklyn in Decem- ber, 1875, I had heard him explain most satisfactorily this use of the Bible and was profoundly impressed with the value of such a study. Out of his own wide experience he classified the various kinds of inquirers and their difficulties, and for each class pointed out some passages of Scripture which would shed light on the solution or removal of these diffi- culties. When he began his work in the Hippodrome a group of workers were ready to cooperate with him in this depart- ment of work. Every evening during these meetings I spent in this inquiry room until nearly midnight, and gained qualifi- cation for personal work of this kind which had not been de- rived from previous study of the Bible. It seemed to be a practical method that might be usefully introduced and per- fected in the theological seminary as a fitting preparation for pastoral intercourse in personal work. It gave me new equip- ment for evangelistic Association work. Nearly three years after this Hippodrome experience I read before the General Secretaries' Conference (June 5, 1878) a paper on "How to Deal with Inquirers," which was afterward published in the Watchman. In the opening paragraph occurs this testimony : "Until three years ago, I confess I was among the number who felt painfully ignorant and at a loss in ap- 156 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN proaching an inquirer. I rejoiced to see him manifest the interest he did. It was easy and pleasant to express this joy to him. If he seemed troubled and wanted light, I fell back on my own experience; and was surprised oftentimes, that this did not seem to give him any comfort or light. Moody, in his talk to Christians in Brooklyn, about how to deal with inquirers out of the Bible, gave me more practical suggestions on this subject than I had received up to that day in December, 1875. Since that time, in dealing with scores, perhaps hun- dreds of individual inquirers, I have learned something of what is to me now the most delightful sort of Christian work. In. this paper I try to give some hints from this three years' experience." During the six weeks of the Hippodrome meetings I resumed with McBurney the intimate and constant intercourse which we had enjoyed during the two years of editorial labor, when I had been more closely confined to a residence in the city. Together we were members of the Executive Committee, ■ workers in the inquiry room, and occupied adjoining rooms in the tower of the Association building. Friendship of D. L. Moody Another acquisition of these weeks, which was a lifelong treasure, was a growing intimacy with Moody and a participa- tion in his work. On his part, he came into sympathy with what was becoming my central purpose — to aid in securing for Association work supervisory and local leaders, both volun- teer and employed, who would conserve and promote what was best in the message and mission of the Young Men's Chris- tian Association. He also was learning to know better, and value more highly, during his own work in Philadelphia and later in Chicago, Thomas Cree^the latest addition to our force. With Weidensall he had long been well acquainted. As we became sympathetic friends in this Hippodrome work he expressed his sympathy with what the Committee was seeking to accomplish, and with me in some of the burdens I was carrying. A strong token of this he gave in the large contribution, which for a few years (1876-1882) came to our treasury from the Moody and Sankey hymn book fund. In connection with the service of song at the immense meetings CONFERENCES AND CONVENTIONS 157 held in Great Britain, there had been a large and lucrative sale of the Moody and Sankey collection of hymns. The •royalty coming to the evangelists was set aside by them as a fund, held by three trustees — George H. Stuart, William E. Dodge, Jr., and John V. Farwell — to be devoted to promoting Christian work. Of this fund $30,000 was promptly used to erect a building for the church in Chicago which Moody had founded, and |1,500 was appropriated to the International Committee's work for the year 1875-6. It was the largest single contribution yet received. This was continued for several years, and one year it was increased to $2,500. The seven years from 1876-1882 were critical financial years in the development of the Committee's work. The period of financial depression throughout the country had begun in 1873. But it was not till 1878 that both Secretary Cree and myself felt constrained in the interests of the work to offer for some years nearly twenty per cent of our salaries as a measure of relief to the treasury. It was accepted with cordial thanks by the Committee. In the early eighties this period of severest strain ended.* In each of these, there came to us from this fund a gift over double that from any other single source. In 1876 it was one of three gifts yielding together one sixth of the Committee's annual expenditure. In 1882 it was one of twelve which yielded one third of an expenditure double that of 1876. The expenditures of the International Com- mittee during the seven years were : in 1874, $7,543 ; in 1875, $9,505; in 1876, $14,503; in 1877, $16,457; in 1878, $16,875; in 1879, $20,347; in 1880, $24,566; in 1886, $27,658. This aid from Moody was the beginning of yet larger financial help which he secured from many friends some years after- ward for our Student Department. His interest in the whole Association work was intimate and was related to what was central and supreme" in it. Other Results of the Hippodrome Meetings During the six weeks of the Hippodrome meetings the churches and the city had been profoundly stirred. A strong group of leading clergymen had united in inviting the evan- 4 "These five years (1873-1878) are a long dismal tale of deoUning markets . . . con- stant bankruptcies, close economy, grinding frugality . . . strikes and lockouts . . . depres- sion and despair.' ' "History of United States" by James F. Rhodes. 158 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN gelists, including Drs. William Adams, John Hall, William M. Taylor, Henry C. Potter, Eobert MacArthur, William Muhlen- berg, and others. The management of this city-wide movement was entirely in the hands of laymen. Clergymen were on the platform, but the President of the Chamber of Commerce, Wil- liam E. Dodge, Senior, presided at all the sessions and he and his wife were among the workers in the inquiry room. The Chairman of the Executive Committee was Samuel Thome; the treasurer J. Pierpont Morgan; and William E. Dodge, Jr., Morris K. Jesup, Cornelius Vanderbilt, John Crosby Brown, and other leading laymen served with McBurney on this strong committee. In connection with the farewell meeting. Moody, following his usual course, was desirous of announcing and accomplish- ing some large undertaking, vitally related to all the churches, in which the awakened energies of Christian workers might give expression, both to gratitude and consecration. Some years later, when he was expressing to me his disappointment that his recent work in some city was not followed by such an expression on the part of the workers, he said : "It is not the failure to get the money that troubles me, it is the lack of that spiritual 'fruit of his labor' which Paul was ever vigilantly looking for." Upon careful deliberation it was agreed that Moody's worthy purpose could best be carried out by an effort, in which all would unite, to raise a fund of $200,000 to in- crease the efiBciency of the New York Young Men's Christian Association, as an agency of all the churches. Such a valua- tion of the Association by this group of churchmen of all de- nominations was a very gratifying acknowledgment of the good work it was accomplishing in the city. It was agreed that the best use of such a fund would be to remove the mortgage of |150,000 upon the 23rd Street Association build- ing, then the only one in New York City, and also to secure a building for the vigorous Bowery Branch, where daily evan- gelistic meetings were held as part of a practical work of rescue and reclamation for men who were "down and out." By this use of the fund an initial subscription of |50,000 was secured from William E. Dodge, Jr., for, as already mentioned, he had placed in the Association safe at the time the building was dedicated, six years before, a pledge of this amount pay- CONFERENCES AND CONVENTIONS 159 able when the balance of what was needed to remove the whole mortgage was secured. The eflfort to procure this fund I recall with peculiar pleas- ure, because it is associated with my first becoming acquainted with Elbert B. Monroe, who served as chairman of the com- mittee which successfully secured the amount needed. A graduate of the New York University, and a man of fine busi- ness ability, he was strongly identified with the work of the Association, and was soon to follow Messrs. Dodge and Jesup in the presidency of the New York City Association. He was also to become member and ultimately chairman of the Inter- national Committee. Another activity peculiar to the centennial year of 1876 was the preparation of an Association exhibit for the World's Exposition at Philadelphia. Space for this was secured in the Educational Department. Every Association was asked to contribute; 36 responded with pictures of their buildings, and 192 sent packages of documents, cards, circulars, manuals, etc., used in their work. These were carefully sorted and arranged in several volumes. From the Smithsonian Institu- tion a large outline map was obtained, upon which were dis- played the locations of the Associations then in existence on this continent. It was a modest exhibit — the first of its kind displayed at a World's Exposition, and a forerunner of larger ones. The Toronto Convention 1876 The Convention of the centennial year met at Toronto, July 12th, 1876, under the British flag, and both flags in happy combination were patriotically displayed in Shaftesbury Hall, where the sessions were held. On this occasion, we welcomed for the only time to a North American Convention "the founder of the parent London Asso- ciation," George Williams. Again and again his earnest words were listened to with eager attention. His principal address set forth clearly and attractively the evangelistic Bible class in its best form, and the qualification and method of its leader or "President." It was evident we were listening to one who had for many years conducted such a class, as a principal effective agency in the work of the Association. Of the favor- 160 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN able impression which the founder and "the father of us all" received of some features in the methods and work of his younger children on this continent, he gave evidence, on his return, in meetings of both the World's Conference and the British Associations. At Toronto the convention method of appointing the com- mittee on permanent organization which nominated the presi- dent and other oiHcers was changed. For twenty years the rules had provided that the president of the preceding Con- vention, or his substitute, should appoint this committee. The change to the present method of creating it by nominations from the delegates representing each state and province was adopted by a large majority. Unfortunately during the dis- cussion a motion for the previous question was moved pre- maturely, before both sides had had full opportunity to speak and though both Thane Miller and McBurney had fairly secured the floor, they were in succession ruled out of order by a mis- take of the president. The next day, in brotherly fashion he made hearty public apology. It was the first, and so far as I can recall the only time when either of these con- vention leaders failed of being listened to by the delegates, when they had gained the floor and desired to speak. Naturally they were both keenly disappointed at the time. The change was accomplished in a manner less deliberate than they, and many others thought wise, but the new rule, as they also discerned, was sure to come, and has proved satisfactory in its working, continuing in force and favor ever since. An appeal from southern delegates led by Major Joseph Hardie, of Selma, for work on behalf of colored young men was heartily responded to, and |700 was raised on the floor of the Convention, with instruction to the Committee to com- plete the fund and put a visiting Secretary in the field for this purpose. In seconding Hardie's appeal. Dr. Stuart Robinson, of Louisville, offered the first contribution and George Wil- liams was a donor of one hundred dollars. A recommendation to employ a permanent International Secretary for the Eail- road Work was repeated. To the Toronto Convention were reported 266 more Associations than at any previous meeting, and an encouraging increase in General Secretaries, buildings, and building funds. CHAPTER IX FIVE YEAKS OF VARIED DEVELOPMENT Fifth and Sixth Years of General Secretaryship 1876-78 Beginning of Intercollegiate Work Beginning with the Day of Prayer for colleges in January, 1876, a remarkable revival was experienced among the stu- dents at Princeton College. Some of the Christians among them before the Day of Prayer had been active in personal work. On that day Dr. William M. Taylor of New York City preached in the Chapel, making a very earnest appeal to which remarkable response was given by the students and in the days and weeks following many made open confession of their faith by radical change of life. Among the student leaders was a member of the junior class, which he had joined that year, having begun his course of study at Hanover College, where he was active in the Student Young Men's Christian Association. Another member of this class, who joined it at the same time as Wishard, was Woodrow Wilson, afterward President of the University, and now President of the United States. As already mentioned^ Wishard had represented the Hanover Association at the Lowell Convention in 1872. Ever since as a college student he had been deeply impressed with the value and importance to student Christian work in college of a connection with the Young Men's Christian Association brotherhood. It was the evangelistic spirit and work of the brotherhood and of its leaders whom he had met that made most urgent appeal to him. At Princeton he promptly became a member and leader of the Philadelphian Society in which for sixty years and for many college generations Christian students at Princeton had been banded together. Like the diaconate at Yale it was »Pp. 65, 95. 161 162 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN anchored in the finer traditions of the college and its alumni. During the revival deputations of Princeton students visited Lafayette, Yale, and other colleges in the interest of a similar work among their students. Eemembering the benefits ex- perienced by the Hanover students from their connection with the State and International Association Work, Wishard be- came anxious that the Philadelphian Society should become a Student or College Young Men's Christian Association. For the first term of his senior year in the autumn of 1876 he was chosen President of the Philadelphian Society. Later when my counsel was asked I suggested that the least change called for to accomplish what was desired would be to preserve the cherished name of the Philadelphian Society, adding to it the words, "and the Young Men's Christian Association of Prince- ton College" ; and to modify the article on active voting mem- bership which already admitted only church members, by inserting before the word church the word evangelical. Under Wishard's leadership these two changes were ultimately ac- complished. In the week following Sunday, December 10th, 1876, re- sponding to a request from William E. Dodge, Jr., I called at his office. He had been spending Sunday, he said, with his two sons, then members of the sophomore class at Princeton, and there he had had an interview with a student in whom he had become very much interested. Of the beginning of this historic interview, since com- memorated by a monument on the Princeton campus, the following account was given at the International Convention of 1889 by Cleveland H. Dodge, one of the two sons who participated in it: "It was a wet, dark Sunday evening in Princeton. Two college boys — sophomores — were in their room with their father, who was visiting them. While they were talking together, there sat in a room two floors below them, a senior who was very much interested in the religious life of the college. His room was cold. He had not been well the day before, and had forgotten to get his supply of coal for over Sunday. As his fire got low he said to himself, 'I must go and borrow some coal.' He first thought of his classmates in the building, but going down the entry to one room after another, he found they were all out. These sophomores, two FIVE YEARS OF VARIED DEVELOPMENT 163 floors above his room he did not know very well, but he had seen them, and he went up to their door. Now that man little thought, as he knocked on that trivial errand, that the course of his life would be changed by his going into that room that afternoon, with the request so familiar to us college boys, 'Fellows, I'd like to borrow some coal.' " This student— Luther D. Wishard— Mr. Dodge said, was anxious as President of their Philadelphian Society, that this student society should become a Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation. Mr. Dodge added that in sympathy with this change and as a member of the International Committee, it had occurred to him to suggest to his sons and Mr. Wishard a yet broader undertaking. Why could not college students, he asked them, get together and talk over the religious work they were doing and might do, and thus begin to create an intercollegiate Christian organization, just as college athletic men get together for intercollegiate sports and contests. Mr. Dodge added that he had wanted to talk the matter over with me, and thought I would be interested to meet Wishard. I responded very heartily, and in full sympathy with what he had suggested, giving him also an account of my own endeavor the previous year to promote at Yale the forming of an Asso- ciation by the class deacons and other Christian students. This conversation was followed by further consultation. A week-end visit (January 27th and 28th, 1877) was made by McBurney and myself to Princeton in response to an invita- tion from the students. McBurney spoke to them from the point of view of a city General Secretary and a personal Chris- tian worker. Years before this McBurney had made a deep impression on Wishard at the International Convention of 1872. Also quite recently both McBurney and I had enjoyed a brief meeting with him in our office in New York, during the recent Christmas holidays. Now in a third meeting this student was brought still more under the spell of friendly influence from Association workers. In following McBurney I referred, as I had done at Yale, to my experience as an undergraduate and to the conviction that the Association would prove an advance upon preceding methods of voluntary Christian work by students. Also I emphasized Mr. Dodge's suggestion of an intercollegiate student movement, showing 164 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN that this really meant a brotherhood of student societies as part of the world organization of the Young Men's Christian Association. It was not a large group of students that we addressed and whether we had made a favorable impression was for a time in doubt, for, as a discerning man has said, undergraduate students as a class are exceedingly conservative. College tradition has a strong hold on them. After we left Princeton, Wishard continued wise and persevering efforts to enlist his fellow-students in the inter- collegiate effort suggested by Mr. Dodge. Early in the year 1877 a communication came to me from him containing an offer from the Princeton students to send to a large number of well selected colleges, a circular inviting each college — whether an Association had been formed in it or not — to send a representative to a conference of college students to be held at Louisville in connection with the meeting there — June, 1877 — of the next International Convention. At this time all delegates were entitled to free entertainment. After learn- ing that the Louisville Association would entertain all such undergraduate students, both regular delegates and others, the Committee replied favorably to this proposal from the new Princeton Association. To 200 colleges this invitation was sent from Princeton, and in response 25 students from 22 colleges in 11 states met in Louisville. Wishard was there to lead them. In discussions at their sessions they concluded that a larger meeting must be held at the next Convention in 1879, and that meanwhile by corre- spondence, by attendance at State Conventions, and, if pos- sible, by visitation from an International College Secretary, such Association work among the colleges must be promoted as would result in better work and many conversions. This conclusion of their deliberations was reported by them to the Convention, and its Committee was authorized, if its resources were sufficient, to add to its staff the College Secretary desired. The College Secretaryship, 1877-80 The first agent added to the force after the Louisville Con- vention was, therefore, its first College Secretary, Luther D. Wishard. Another interview with McBurney and myself had FIVE YBAKS OF VARIED DEVELOPMENT 165 influence with him in consenting to give to correspondence and visitation of the colleges such time — chiefly week-ends — as he could spare while pursuing his studies in the theological seminary, first at Union in New York and then at Princeton. During that college year— 1877-8— Wishard attended five State Conventions and visited twenty-three colleges. By correspondence he came into intercourse with as many as one hundred and fifty institutions. At the close of the year he was — to use his own words — "persuaded that untold good would result from the employment of a young man, a student who could devote his entire time to the work, making a general tour among all the colleges of the country." Ten new College Associations were added to the list this year, and two hundred students had attended State Conventions. He had a record of some four hundred who "had consecrated their lives to the service of the Master." Of these two hundred and thirty were in College Associations. He adds, "This was the chief thing which occupied our attention at the Louisville Conven- tion. It is the great object for which the work has been under- taken." At the close of his second year — July, 1879 — he was still working in connection with his "regular course of study" and "looking anxiously toward the time when some young man could enter upon an extended tour among our colleges for the sole purpose of this work." In this year nine weeks had been consumed by him in college visitation and twenty- three new Associations had been formed, making fifty in all. During all this time he was diligently preparing for work on the foreign mission field, having joined some classmates who were considering whether they should go to China or offer to go together to South America, with the hope of forming a presbytery in a new field. But, more or less realized by him, this college work was fastening its hold on his thought and conscience and he was beginning to see that in developing it he might do more to promote the foreign missionary enterprise of the Church than by going out to the field himself. For soon after the Louisville Convention at the beginning of his theological studies at Union, a remark of Professor Prentiss called his attention for the first time to the origin of American foreign missionary work at the Haystack prayer meeting by a few Williams College students. He was led to trace and 166 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN recognize a genuine historic connection between that college student movement and the one he was now identified with. He was led to discern and believe that this new movement could be made to promote the foreign missionary enterprise of the churches in a way to make it a lineal successor of the movement signalized by the Haystack Monument at Williams. While presenting 1» students the Association work, he never failed to emphasize the primary importance of the foreign missionary meeting and its program. No one could listen to this part of his address on the six-fold College Association Work without feeling that the missionary call had first claim on his own heart and life. I vividly recall a consultation he sought with me at this critical period. He outlined the con- siderations and alternatives which have been referred to. There was no doubt in my own mind that in this intercol- legiate undertaking he could accomplish more for the exten- sion of the Kingdom on the foreign mission field than by going out himself upon the field. One obstacle in his path to a free choice was the pledge he had given to complete his theological studies and become a clergyman. The pledge had been given in connection with some financial help he had received from the Board of Education in his church. He was not able to make the repayment — several hundred dollars — which a choice by him of this student work would make necessary. Of this financial burden I had the great privilege of relieving him. In January, 1880, with his desk in the Committee's office, he began to give his entire time to the work as its first College Secretary. In reaching this decision he sought and received counsel in favor of it from President James McCosh and a group of pro- fessors in Princeton who met at his request and to whom he asked me to present the considerations which led the Commit- tee to urge his continuance as its first College Secretary in the good work for which, as we thought, he was showing fine quali- fication. It was a pleasure to make the plea for this continu- ance which the work he had already accomplished abundantly justified. Already while he was still at Princeton an interesting prob- lem was presented by his first intercourse with students in coeducational institutions. In the early years of the Asso- FIVE YEARS OF VABIED DEVELOPMENT 167 elation movement, before concentration upon "work for young men exclusively" began to be our watchword, some Associa- tions admitted members of both sexes, especially where the use of a circulating library was one of the membership priv- ileges. This extension was discussed and defended at some of the Conventions, State and International. In the Convention of 1870 the Chairman of the International Committee, when asked whether ladies should be admitted to active membership, advised against it, but added : "Doing so, however, would not preclude such Association from represen- tation in the Convention upon its male membership only." Some years after, when some of us brought this utterance to his attention, he was as much surprised as we had been to discover that he had made the statement ! Among the few isolated Student Associations of this early period some were in coeducational institutions at the West and in admitting members no distinction of sex was made. To the University of Michigan women did not come until 1870. From that time they were admitted as Association members. In his first intercourse therefore with coeducational colleges Wishard naturally accepted this precedent as his guide, before he was aware how contrary such a propaganda by him was to that emphasis upon "work for young men exclusively" which was an essential part of the Committee's message and pro- motion in all its work. When taken to task he frankly "pled guilty and made no defense," for he was as fully persuaded as we were that the students of each sex in coeducational insti- tutions could accomplish the objectives of Association work more wisely and effectively by separate organizations, each afaiiating with the Sfudent Associations in other than coed- ucational colleges and also with the entire Association Move- ment of either young women or young men. Also as a result of our own experience we coveted for the Young Women's Christian Associations, as for our own, and as of primary importance : first, a strong supervisory agency with capable Secretaries; second, local Secretaries of ability; and third, a student movement which would yield the Secre- taries needed and would be an integral part of the whole Asso- ciation Movement. In 1875, as recorded later* in this narra- ' Pp. 227, 228. 168 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN tive, Thane Miller had sought the cooperation of the Com- mittee's General Secretary in suggesting to the Women's Asso- ciation Convention at Pittsburgh — prematurely as it proved — a supervisory agency and secretary. And now the Com- mittee's College Secretary seemed obligated and willing to lend a hand — if he found he could do so wisely — in promot- ing the women's student movement where it was most nearly in touch with our Student Associations. No sudden change could be looked for or thought of. Already women student delegates were cordially welcomed to some of our State Con- ventions and women oflScers were elected and reported in our Year Book by some of our Student Associations. Any change of practice must come slowly and grow out of the convictions and action of the leaders of the women's movement. Natu- rally therefore Wishard sought counsel and cooperation from Mr. and Mrs. Thane Miller. The latter was a leader in the counsels of the Women's Christian Associations. Their endeavor at that time to bring together the elder city Women's Associations and the Student Associations of young women did not prove successful. And the existence of two separated organizations within the Women's Association Movement for the time was not prevented. But the women students in coeducational institutions became actively sym- pathetic with such changes in organization as separated them to a work among themselves. They continued to be welcomed to our State Conventions, biding the time when similar con- ventions of their own should be organized. Of one return of Wishard from a trip during this recon- struction period I retain a vivid recollection. In the home of Chairman Brainerd he was reporting to us the victories of this tour when suddenly in changed tone he said that at one place a union of the two parties concerned could not be prevented. When the Chairman desired to know why he was so confident a separation in this sole instance could not be accomplished, we were told he was referring to his own engagement to be married, which had resulted from one of his successful en- deavors to accomplish a readjustment. Upon such a double achievement we heartily congratulated him. During this period of "adjustment" and "readjustment," as it was termed, I remember also attending with Wishard an FIVE YEARS OF VARIED DEVELOPMENT 169 Ohio Convention where the men and women students con- stituted the great majority of the delegates. In the student session the question of such a readjustment within coeduca- tional colleges was being discussed. One of the best speakers advocating such a readjustment was a young woman from Otterbein. She was holding the close attention of her audi- ence when she uttered the sentence : "It takes a girl to win the heart of a girl." These words excited a sensation among the young men of her audience which would have disconcerted an ordinary speaker, but this one was only stimulated to con- tinue her address and argument to a convincing conclusion. As she was greeted with applause I said to Wishard, for we were sitting together on the platform : "That is a leader who can give invaluable help in the work of readjustment within the colleges on your field." Miss Fannie Beal proved an able worker. In due time suflBcient leadership by the young women themselves accomplished the desired work of "readjustment" and the societies thus readjusted formed state and interna- tional organizations, with employed oflScers of their own. Ultimately the goal of union within the entire Women's Asso- ciation Movement was reached under the remarkable and devoted leadership of Miss Grace Dodge.* International Conventions Become Biennial To the Louisville Convention (1877) its Committee reported an annual expenditure fifteen per cent larger than heretofore. What was offered at the Convention was more than ever in- suflflcient for this enlarged work. Further addition to the Committee's staff was urgently authorized. To this Conven- tion had come, however, a smaller number of delegates, from a smaller number of Associations than had been present at recent meetings. The meaning of the situation was very clear to the Com- mittee and the older delegates. To them four facts were evi- dent : this beginning of Supervisory Work must be developed ; if both State and International Conventions continued to be annual, both could not be largely attended by the Associa- tion men who felt willing to attend such meetings; most of the donors who were giving, and who could be induced to give »Pp. 231,459-61, 170 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN to the International Work could not, or would not attend the Conventions ; these donors could be reached by parlor confer- ences, as already demonstrated by the five conferences held since the first met in 1874 at Harrisburg. Therefore, if the Conventions became biennial, the Committee would be able to hold the needed conferences, its work would be enlarged, and delegates would be released for attendance in greater numbers upon State Conventions. But to every delegate who had come to this as his first Con- vention, the annual meeting seemed indispensable. As the discussion proceeded, it was clear that the majority would not favor a change unless a plea could be made, so strong and con- vincing as to change votes. Such a plea McBurney made. He presented the situation so convincingly that as the voters afterwards testified, enough votes were changed to favor the holding of the next Convention in the year 1879. This gave to the State organizations and the International Committee op- portunities to demonstrate the wisdom of the course taken, for no motion for a change in the interval between Conventions was made until twenty-five years later, and then a triennial interval was proposed and agreed to without debate! On the basis of this change, and in expectation of greater resources for the Committee, the Convention authorized a budget of $20,000, calling for an increase of fifteen per cent. This steady growth of the work brought with it increasing responsibility in connection with the program and procedure of the committee meetings and the parlor conferences. The State Conventions In the autumn of 1877, at the New York State Convention, McBurney read a paper on "Our State Work." This work in New York, with its counterpart in Pennsylvania, he defined as "primarily a mission to young men and Young Men's Chris- tion Associations, resulting in their increase in numbers and efficiency." The work in the four other states with State Secretaries was defined as "a mission to churches and com- munities generally," which in the experience of the past six years had not established and fostered vigorous Associations. As his theme related exclusively to State Work, no mention was made of the fact that during this period, and before it, FIVE YEARS OF VARIED DEVELOPMENT 171 the entire staff of the International Committee and its mem- bers, had been employed upon the work correctly defined as a "mission to Young Men's Christian Associations." This paper, with its truthful comparison of the two methods of State Work, as these had been tested for years in the crucible of experiment and experience, was wisely published by a state convention and its committee. It was also widely circulated from the International oflQce. It produced a profound impres- sion upon friends who were identified with State Work of the general evangelistic sort, owing to their sincere desire and purpose that their work should promote vigorous Associations. In his life of McBurney, Dr. Doggett says : "The paper read by McBurney in New York was carefully read by the leaders in New England, and in 1879 at a conference held in Provi- dence, to which McBurney as well as Mr. Morse were invited, a State Secretary was called by the Massachusetts and Khode Island State Committee, with instructions to devote himself chiefly to Association work."* This Secretary, suggested by us in response to their request, was Samuel M. Sayford. He was then the acceptable Secretary of the Syracuse (New York) Association. Promptly in January, 1880, Sayford began his work as State Secretary^ "under instructions from the Massachusetts Com- mittee to devote the greater part of his time to Young Men's Christian Association work." With the cooperation of Inter- national Secretary Cree, General Secretaries began to be se- cured in the cities of the state. Sayford's sympathies and qualifications, however, were leading him into that life work as an evangelist in which he has been greatly blessed. Becom- ing aware of this preference on his part, I was glad of the opportunity to commend to him as an associate, Charles K. Ober, who, after graduating at Williams College, had served on apprenticeship under McBurney in the New York Association. Early in 1882 Ober accepted the call of the Massachusetts Committee^ "to devote himself as Sayford's associate to dis- tinctive Association work." Upon Sayford's resignation, Ober became State Secretary and under him and his successors the * "Life of Robert R. McBurney," p. 200. 'Year Book 1880-1, p. 43. 'Year Book 1883-4, p. liv. 172 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN local Associations were, steadily strengthened by securing both General Secretaries and buildings. These changes of staff were all harmoniously accomplished by the Massachusetts Committee under the continued leadership of R. K. Remington and Henry M. Moore, both of whom also became strong mem- bers of the International Committee. In the Massachusetts State office, Charles K. Ober began his career of remarkable service, as an officer of Association supervision. Soon (1884) he became an International Secre- tary, beginning on the student staff and later rendering inval- uable service to state and local work, as will duly appear in this narrative.'^ The example of Massachusetts and Rhode Island was fol- lowed in other states. The International Secretaries heartily cooperated in facilitating this change. In 1879, twelve State and Provincial Committees were chiefly occupied with distinc- tive work for young men, and four years later, of thirteen such Secretaries, in as many states, all but one or two were concen- trating on this distinctive work. Not only was the objective of these committees the same, but they also came to a harmo- nious agreement and cooperation as to the methods to be pur- sued in the work. Seventh and Eighth Years of the General Secebtartship 1878-80 World's Conference of 1878 at Geneva, Switzerland From the European point of view there was promise of an unusual attendance at the World's Conference of 1878. The attractive city of Geneva, Switzerland, where it was to be held, and the convenient vacation month of August, chosen as the time for the meeting, contributed to increase attendance. Special effort was made by the friends in Geneva to promote the coming of delegates. Since the first Conference of 1855 no additional countries had sent delegates regularly. This year from eight additional countries regular delegates began to come. Among our own Association workers increasing inter- est was taken in the work abroad, especially in Great Britain. Since the Hamburg Conference of 1875, George Williams had ' Pp. 262-3, 289-91, 332, 345-63, 366, 369, 372-3, 405-6, 607. FIVE YEARS OF VARIED DEVELOPMENT 17a been welcomed at the International Convention, and the virile message concerning Bible study and Bible work which both he and his predecessor, W. Hind Smith, had brought to the Conventions and Secretaries' Conferences, had made a deep impression, and the report I had been able to bring of the two preceding Conferences had been listened to with interest. The recent establishment of the Tourist Agency of Thomas Cook & Son had facilitated overseas travel. Early in the year 1878, the Secretary of the Brooklyn Association, Humphrey B. Chamberlin, who was also Secretary-Treasurer of the Gen- eral Secretaries' Conference, consulted me about making up a tourist party of delegates, to be composed chiefly of Secre- taries. He offered to undertake the necessary correspondence and other details, if I would consent to be a member of the party. Forty-one delegates were secured, nearly equaling in number the British delegation. The voyage across the Atlantic was in striking contrast to that of 1875, when I was a solitary delegate. On the steamer Ethiopia we were a party that seemed to be oflf for an unusual holiday. The messages we were carrying had been written, translated, and printed in pamphlet form and gave us no anxious thought. Most of the company were enjoying their first visit to Europe. My own interest in this journey was greatly increased by the company of several members of my own family, including my sister. Miss Rebecca Morse, after- ward a leader among the workers in the Young Women's Christian Association. We had in our care a niece and two nephews. These nephews are now (1917) well known as veteran members of the firm of Colgate & Company— Gilbert and Sidney Colgate, then boys on their first trip abroad. This was a rare opportunity for the Secretaries to enjoy one another's society in the happy leisure of travel and wholesome recreation. There is a peculiar pleasure in traveling abroad with friends who are enjoying their first trip, and it is a pleas- ure I have enjoyed during many Atlantic crossings, and along numerous pathways of travel in Europe and on other conti- nents. We were favored with good weather. The games and sports on deck grew more and more exciting. After a tour in northern Ireland and Scotland, we reached London, where we were cordially welcomed by George Wil- 174 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN liams, Edwyn Shipton, and other friends, and reached Geneva by way of Holland and the Rhine. The subject of the Amer- ican paper, translated for the Conference, was "Bible Study and Bible Classes in the American Associations." It was written by one of the delegates, Kobert A. Orr, of Pittsburgh, highly esteemed among us as the Secretary who was giving most time — and most effectively — to Bible teaching. An his- torical sketch which I had prepared of the North American Associations, with special emphasis upon the progress made since the last World's Conference, was also distributed. Not only the American delegates, but also those from Great Britain, France, and Switzerland brought their papers and reports translated and printed in the languages of the Con- ference. The religious press of the continent, in making men- tion of the forty American delegates, emphasized the fact that "none of them drank wine with their meals." At the request of the Geneva Association, in its preparation for the conference program, the French delegates brought a paper entitled Liens Internationales or "International Ties." In it was proposed and discussed the appointment by the Conference, of an Executive Committee to act for it between Conferences — an agency similar to the North American Inter- national Committee. The Conference was fortunate in its presiding oflScer, who was also chairman of the Committee of Arrangements — Charles Fermaud — a young business man of Geneva. He welcomed the delegates in the three languages of the Conference and at his suggestion on behalf of the Geneva Committee, as a new departure, a bureau composed of members from eight of the countries represented was chosen as a business committee in charge of the proceedings. This paper of the French delegates was presented at the morning session of the second day, and aroused a vigorous discussion. Shipton opposed such an appointment, believing it would introduce an agency exercising an authority heretofore ex- plicitly disclaimed by the Conference. The advocates of the change did not favor an agency with authority, and I was called upon to explain how our own Executive Committee accomplished a desirable work without the exercise of any authority or control over the local Associations. A decision was postponed until the following day. FIVE YEARS OF VARIED DEVELOPMENT 175 In the afternoon and evening the Conference was enter- tained at the country seat of a friend, and a severe storm kept us all within doors. In two separate rooms, and quite unknown to each other, two groups of delegates sought out McBurney and me to inquire about the International Work, which had been referred to in the morning's discussion. By means of interpreters any erroneous impression which had been made was corrected, and a statement was framed, by each group of delegates, in the form of resolutions providing for the elec- tion of such an Executive Committee as we had described to them. Late that evening each set of resolutions was translated into French and German and then printed. In the morning the two sets of resolutions were found to be substantially the same! The following day, when the discussion was resumed, there was still a division of opinion. Shipton was unconvinced. But George Williams spoke decidedly in favor of the new plan. His visit to America and his observation of the work had con- vinced him of the wisdom of the change proposed. The great majority of the British delegation, including Hind Smith, were of the same opinion. The resolutions were carried with very few dissenting votes. The attitude of the German dele- gates was neutral, but the French, Swiss, Scandinavian, North American, and other delegates favored the change. Toward the expenses of this new Committee, George Williams and a Scotch delegate offered each two hundred and fifty francs ($50), and McBurney, for the American delegates, pledged one thousand francs ($200). This Bureau of the Conference represented eight nations. It had been nominated by the delegates from each country, and contained enough members from Geneva and its neighborhood to constitute a working quorum. Geneva seemed to be the city from which, better than from any other in Europe, such a work could be most happily conducted. It was therefore chosen as headquar- ters, and the members of the Conference Bureau were elected to constitute the new Central International Committee, which later became known as the World's Committee. The members were Charles Fermaud, Chairman; Henri Cuchet, Paul Piquet, and Frederic Bonna of Geneva; Robert Matthey, Lausanne; Alfred de Rougemont, Neufchatel; Her- 176 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN man Eidenbenz, Zurich; W. Edwyn Shipton, Great Britain; Christian King, Germany; Francisco Albricias, Spain; W. Van Oosterwijk Bruijn, Holland; F. Schultess, Upsala, Sweden; Luc Dorian, Paris; and Eichard C. Morse, North America. Without a General Secretary, we felt sure that the new Committee would find it impossible to meet the expecta- tions which had been created in connection with its appoint- ment, and George Williams joined us heartily in this convic- tion. The President of the Conference, Charles Fermaud, seemed to the American delegates, and many others, a man of promise and qualification for this important office. We were told that he was, at that time, the only total abstainer of his age in Geneva. The men in Geneva who had known him for years, confirmed us in the favorable opinion which we had formed. This led Messrs. Williams, McBurney, and myself to have interviews both with Fermaud and with mem- bers of the Committee. The result was a promise from him to give careful and prayerful consideration to the proposal we were making. On our part, and on behalf of the American Secretaries, we invited him, in case he accepted the call of the Committee, to attend as our guest the Convention and Secre- taries' Conference of the following summer (1879), and also to visit some of the principal American and Canadian Associa- tions. This invitation to the new office made it necessary to pro- vide a fund for the salary needed. Toward such a fund George Williams offered $500 and on behalf of the American dele- gates an equal sum was pledged. Before the close of the year Fermaud accepted the call of the Committee, and began his work as General Secretary the following January (1879). He also accepted our invitation and attended in Baltimore both the Convention and the Secretaries' Conference, visiting also the Associations in more than a dozen of our principal cities, and studying their work. Before his returil, in a long interview, we talked over the work of the World's Committee. When I asked what features of the work which he had been studying impressed him as of first importance, he replied: (1) The local General Secretaryship. (2) The agencies of supervision — the International and State Committees, with their Secretaries. (3) The Association buildings, as essential FIVE YEARS OF VARIED DEVELOPMENT 177 to provide the equipment needed for the fourfold work in its best form. To promote in Europe the reproduction of these features of Association work, he felt was the objective of the World's Committee. As a result of this new departure of the World's Conference, I became responsible each year to its Committee for the grow- ing fund expected from North America for the expenses of its work. The Convention of 1879 at Baltimore Baltimore was chosen as the place of meeting for the Con- vention of 1879, without any knowledge of the fact that Moody was to precede us for a winter and spring of evangelistic work in that city. For the first time an entire season of fruitful work was carried on by him in one city and also for the first time, not in one large central building, but month by month in different churches and sections of that city. During the three seasons since his return from Great Bri- tain in the autumn of 1875, he had held evangelistic services in more than three cities, bringing a blessing to the Associa- tions, as well as to the churches. His stay for the whole of this fourth season in Baltimore had satisfied him, so he told me, that this continuance in one city for a whole winter and spring was a program yielding the best results he had yet realized in his experience as an evangelist. He used even stronger language than this, saying: "When I think of it, I wonder how I could have been such a fool as to attempt, as I did, in a single season (the season of 1875-76) three cam- paigns in three such cities as Brooklyn, Philadelphia, and New York!" This was not the only time when he made me feel that as an evangelist he had never fully achieved his cherished purpose to create and leave in each city in which he labored such an inspirational force of permanent workers as would perpetuate, more strongly than he ever saw perpetuated, the influences for good which had been set in motion, under his touch, within Church, Association, and community. He looked to the Association in each place as an agency that might do more in this direction than it ever accomplished. More than once he said to me: "Of all the cities I have ever 178 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN worked in, I am best pleased with the work that followed in Glasgow, Scotland, and in Baltimore." To the end of his life as a faithful evangelist he continued on the platform and in the inquiry room a work which, as here- tofore, continued to prove fruitful in blessing to a growing multitude in many cities. But in his later years at Northfleld and Mount Hermon he also established for the youth of both sexes another form of evangelism which continues to live after him, an abiding, educational agency full of blessing from generation to generation upon a growing multitude of the youth of his own country and from many other lands. He was in Baltimore when the Secretaries came for their annual conference, the week before the Convention. His youngest child was born that winter, and when McBurney, Cree, and I called on the father, to ask for his presence and help in the conference, he ran upstairs and brought the baby down to show him to us. He had not reckoned suflSciently with the fact that we were three old bachelors, somewhat timid and awkward with a tiny baby! When he came to us with the child in his arms, something in our awkward manner of greeting the young stranger reminded him of the fact, and with a quick glance around the half circle of admiring faces, he said : "Oh, I forgot that you old bachelors don't appreciate babies!" and then disappeared with the child, more quickly than he had brought him to us. He heartily consented to meet and address the Secretaries. Often afterward his words were quoted in the brotherhood: "Six years ago I became satisfied that as an evangelist, my field of service was not that of an Association Secretary. There are many ways of reaching young men. You do not want simply evangelistic meetings. I tried that method and failed, so I gave it up and became an evangelist. You cannot do both and succeed." The question was asked — "What do you consider the great- est need of the Associations now?" As he looked into the faces of the seventy-five Secretaries before him, most of whom felt indebted to him for gracious inspiration in their life work, he replied: "More trained Secretaries, and more Training Schools, such as this conference. Every Secretary ought to be training suitable young men for this work." FIVE YEARS OF VARIED DEVELOPMENT 179 The delegates were in no doubt as to their choice for Presi- dent of the Convention. Moody was unanimously elected and presided in a manner that made the Convention preeminent for its spiritual power, and for the inspirational influence exerted upon the delegates. On Sunday afternoon a consecra- tion meeting for all the workers was called and led by the President. One delegate, a devout and earnest pastor of a Bohemian Church in New York, was so impressed that he called on me after our return to the city and asked that testi- monies should be collected from those who had received benefit corresponding to what he had received. This request, over his name and describing his own experience, was sent to those who attended the Convention, and a large number responded. These testimonies were prepared for publication and many copies were distributed. The Baltimore Convention was the first to receive a biennial report from its Committee. The longer interval of two years between Conventions had been used in a manner that fully justified the making of this change. The State Conventions had received more help than ever from the International staff, and over two thousand delegates from nearly five hundred Associations had increased the influence of these numerous state meetings. Fourteen parlor conferences had been held by the Committee and the expenditures of the two years — larger by ten per cent than heretofore — had been fully met, by a constituency of donors intelligent about the International movement, and giving promise of being stable supporters of a work, the continued increase of which in size and expense was heartily authorized by the Convention. Interval Between Conventions of 1879 and 1881 During the two years until the Convention of 1881, seven more parlor conferences were held — one each in Milwaukee, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Toronto, and two in Chicago — all extending the intelligent appreciation of the Committee's expanding work. As many as forty-eight General Secretaries were found and recommended to as many Associations, in response to requests for these needed leaders in local work. In 1879, while Moody was conducting his work in Baltimore, Morris K. Jesup, a member of the Committee, was visiting 180 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN San Francisco. He had been active in the Hippodrome work of 1876 when Moody was his guest. He felt sure that a similar work in San Francisco was urgently called for. The depressed condition of the Association in that city also appealed to him, for a mortgage of |80,000 on its building had been unwisely incurred^ and prevented the use of the building by the Asso- ciation for its work. A thorough reorganization, with a com- petent Secretary, was called for, and such a change Mr. Jesup believed would be one of the good results of a work by Moody. In response to an invitation from the Christian churches and the Association of San Francisco he spent the winter of 1880 in that city, reorganized the Association, and enlisted Chris- tian men of influence on its Board of Management. In their name he asked the International Committee to recommend a competent Secretary for the Association, toward the establish- ment of a virile Association work on the Pacific Coast. Henry J. McCoy, the Secretary in Lowell, Massachusetts, had become well known in the International offlce during his six years of growing efficiency in the work in that city. He was asked to give candid and thorough consideration to this call to a difficult field to which, in the judgment of those who knew him best, he was fully equal. He came to New York and our conference and consultation with him took place in McBurney's office, where Messrs. Moody, Jesup, Dodge, and McBurney took part in presenting the urgency and promise of the opportunity presented at San Francisco and on the Pacific Coast. McCoy agreed to go, provided that the mort- gage could be lifted from the building, and that the way was reaUy open to the work we had described to him. Moody said it would be necessary for an International Secretary — Cree if possible — to come to San Francisco and complete the can- vass which had been well begun, for the full amount needed to lift the debt and put the building in good condition. Of this sum $10,000 was allotted to New York. This sum McBurney and I were able to secure and Cree went to San Francisco. His absence on this serious errand prevented his attendance at the Cleveland Convention (May 25-29, 1881) to join his associates in reporting his arduous work for the past two years. As his substitute, McBurney described to the Convention the manner of man Cree was in the following language: FIVE YEARS OP VARIED DEVELOPMENT 181 "Mr. Cree is rightly named 'Traveling Secretary,' for tonight he is with the Young Men's Christian Association of San Francisco, acting temporarily as their Secretary until Henry McCoy arrives to take that position. Mr. Cree, for whom I am to speak tonight, has peculiar adaptation for the work with which just now he is charged. The president of a Young Men's Christian Association recently said that, after having been twenty-four hours in his city (and the Association had existed there for over twenty years) Mr. Cree knew more about the Association than any member of it. It was not in a good condition. The ministers had not very much confidence in it. It had been engaging in a class of work not directly reaching young men, and the support of the Church and of the Chris- tian people was being withheld. Mr. Cree went through the records of the Association, called upon every donor who had helped the Association, and to each explained its work. 'But,' they said, 'that work has not been done here.' 'Very true,' they were told, 'but you could have done it by sustaining a General Secretary who would have organized aggressive work for young men.' 'We admit it,' they replied; The result was that a parlor conference was held through Mr. Cree's agency, money enough was secured to pay the debt, the interest of old friends was reawakened, a competent Secretary was placed in charge, and young men are being reached and saved there. I know of another Association that had a building with a heavy mortgage on it. It was a valuable property. The mortgage was to be foreclosed. The members of the Associa- tion were apathetic. Some held part of the mortgage. The International Committee said, 'That building must be saved,' and Mr. Cree was sent upon the errand. He had not many days to work. Erom one of the men from whom he expected to secure a considerable subscription, he was able to secure it only a few minutes before the bank closed on the day on which the mortgage would have matured. As a result of his promptness the building was saved, a Secretary placed in that field, and good Christian work is being carried on for young men there. These are not his only good qualities. He leads gospel meetings in the places he visits and seeks to bring young men to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let a Secretary be caring for secular, to the neglect of spiritual work, when Mr. Cree comes that Secretary will have his work criticised with a good deal of plainness of speech and warmth of heart. The story of the reorganization of the San Francisco Association, the persistent effort, and the successful result in that city in connection with the payment of the debt upon the building of over 180,000, is cause for profound thanksgiving to God, and makes us resigned to the absence of Mr. Cree from this Con- vention." 182 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Ninth Year of General Secretaryship 1880-81 Cleveland Convention of 1881 At Cleveland, in 1881, the Convention requested its Commit- tee to secure an Act of Incorporation. This instruction was a vote of confidence and a step toward more firmly establishing the Committee, where it had now been located on probation for fifteen years. The only discussion concerning a change had occurred at Lowell, at the close of the sixth year of the Committee's service, and had ended in a unanimous vote in favor of making no change. Outside of convention sessions, suggestions of a change in the direction of the West had been made, but had not pointed to any definite location. These suggestions originated where there did not exist capacity, or intelligent consciousness of capacity to assume responsibility for the growing work desired and authorized by the Conventions. There had been one semi- official agitation of this question carried on in an Association bulletin which had excited some attention, and a change was suggested, without any definite choice of another location and with what seemed to the Committee a dangerous misrepresen- tation of its attitude and work. This led to a vigorous corre- spondence, admirably conducted by the Chairman, but to obtain adequate correction a visit from the Chairman and myself to a distant city proved necessary. . It was a critical conversational conference, with half a dozen fellow workers, to meet whom we had traveled some thousand miles. It was one of the finest achievements of peace, through brotherly conference, which I ever saw and heard Chairman Brainerd or any other man accomplish. It completed a work admirably begun by him in correspondence, and was a fine illustration of a difficult situation in which he was performing one of the best of many kindred services he rendered the brotherhood, both by correspondence and visitation. It now seems a trivial eddy in a wide and strong current, but at the moment it com- manded much time and very vigilant attention. The Last Report of von Schluembach To the Cleveland Convention the Committee's Secretary, FIVE YEARS OF VAEIED DEVELOPMENT 183 Frederick von Schluembach, had made what proved to be his last report as an International Secretary. The immediate cause of his retirement was the condition of his health, which made necessary his return to Germany for a protracted ab- sence from his home and family. For four years, ending in November, 1878, as General Secretary of the German National Bund, in annual tours of travel at the Committee's expense, he had accomplished a good work. Then, owing to efforts by his own and the Committee's friends, the Methodist Confer- ence to which he belonged, directed him in November, 1878, to report to the International Committee for service as Secretary of its German work. In nine of our principal cities which contained the largest German speaking population, he formed and fostered successfully self-sustaining Associations or branches, locating a competent German speaking Secretary in six of them. In New York City he made a profound impression upon its German speaking Christian citizens, and a few years after this from them and other friends of Association work, in cooperation with the Committee he secured a fund for the purchase of a branch building and its equipment for German speaking young men. In State Conventions and parlor confer- ences he won the confidence and regard of the brotherhood. When his health failed, and he went to Germany for the heroic surgical operation which resulted ultimately in his complete recovery, we expected his return to the Committee. From his many friends during his absence was readily obtained what was needed in the interval for the support of his wife and family. What we did not then appreciate was that he had been prepared by his work in America to carry home to his native land an Association message destined to create there an Association work of wider influence and dimension, and far more permanent than the good work he had been accom- plishing in his adopted country. After the recovery of his health, and in connection with a remarkable work by him in Berlin as an evangelist, he formed in that city in 1883 with the aid of Count Andreas von Bern- stofif as President, and Baron von Rothkirck as an associate, the first Christlicher Verein Junger Manner. Among the lay- men whose interest he enlisted as Association workers and 184 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN leaders was a young merchant of rare promise — Christian Phildius, who was moved to withdraw from a business career to become General Secretary of this new Berlin Association. The Association began with eighteen members, of whom Phil- dius was one. Within a little more than a year it was occupy- ing an entire building on the Friedrichstrasse, alive with work and workers, finely illustrating the best American type of work for young men and in contrast with the Junglings Verein. To quote the words of Count Bernstoff,^ "The new Association was founded on the principles held in America, and it was thought necessary to choose the new name — Christlicher Yerein Junger Manner. The parochial system of the Jung- lings Verein was abandoned. The distinction of active and associate members was introduced, and a General Secretary appointed, who soon required a staff of Secretaries to help him." Von Schluembach also visited Stuttgart, the capital of his native Wiirtemburg, which Baedeker calls "the capital city in Germany, most beautiful for situation," and there he received a cordial welcome. Through his influence the Junglings Verein, then twenty-two years old, became a Christlicher Verein Junger Manner. Twenty-eight years later, in 1911, I accepted the invitation of my friend Secretary Elsasser to attend the Jubilee of the Stuttgart Association and was welcomed to a building and Association of the first rank, being assured by another guest. National Secretary Helbing from Barman-Elberfeld, the his- toric home and center of the Junglings Vereins, that we were being entertained by "the model Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation of Germany." After his return from Germany, von Schluembach resumed his office and work as a German speaking pastor. In 1884, at the request of the Committee, as already mentioned, he secured in New York City a building fund for the German Branch. He continued in the pastorate until the close of his life, a faithful minister of that Gospel, the blessings of which he had brought into the lives and work of multitudes of young men in both his native and his adopted country. He was succeeded as an International Secretary by one of 8 "Jubilee of Work for Young Men" (1901), pp. 417, 418. FIVE YEARS OP VARIED DEVELOPMENT 185 his fellow workers, Glaus Olandt. For fifteen years Olandt devoted himself eflaciently to Association work and workers among German speaking young men. With the waning of the strong tide of German immigration, young men of German parentage manifested a preference for English speaking Asso- ciation branches. Gradually the local Associations yielded to this preference of their members of German descent and language and with their cooperation the use of English was introduced, though not to the exclusion of German. Mr. Olandt continued with the Committee until 1897 and then entered the pulpit and pastorate. In 1916 he accepted an appointment from the Committee as one of its Secretaries for work among the soldiers in the European war zone, where he rendered noble service. At this time, by instruction of the Baltimore Convention, its Committee began a work among commercial travelers, led by its very acceptable Secretary, E. W. Watkins, but this effort did not result successfully in a permanent commercial travel- ers' department of the Association work — ^local, State, or International. CHAPTER X ENTERING THE SECOND DECADE Tenth and Eleventh Years of General Secretaryship 1881-83 International Convention of 1883 At the Convention of 1883 an increase of 254 Associations was reported, and the 447 delegates outnumbered those at any Convention since the rule limiting representation had been adopted in 1871. The reports received showed that this at- tendance resulted from a growth of the work in all its branches and departments. The President of the Convention at Milwaukee was Charles L. Colby, whose name was honored throughout Wisconsin as that of a highly esteemed, public-spirited. Christian citizen. He was President of the Wisconsin Central Railroad, and the important business interests with which he was identified were soon to make necessary the removal of his residence to New York City. His excellence as a presiding ofBcer was a valued asset of this Convention, and his contact with its ses- sions made him better acquainted with the Committee and its work. This experience prepared him to become one of the Committee's most active members, and to place him on that ranking list of donors who were giving more than their share. To the Committee in his will he left |2,000. At the previous Convention in Cleveland (1881) only one opinion was expressed concerning the need of an Act of In- corporation for the Committee. Already the Treasurer had received from the executors of the will of William E. Dodge a bequest of |5,000, and there was urgent call for a Board of Trustees to hold gifts of permanent funds coming to the Committee by bequest or otherwise. Accordingly such an Act had been procured from the New York State. Legislature, and was submitted to the Convention in the Committee's report. ENTERING THE SECOND DECADE 187 The Convention Committee recommended the acceptance and adoption of this Act, and — as provided for in it — the election of thirty-three persons as members, and nine as advisory mem- bers of the International Committee, who should hold oflBce, one-third for a term of six years ; one-third for a term of four years; and one-third for a term of two years. The Act also named and incorporated a Board of fifteen Trustees, to hold in trust all real property for the Committee, and for any particular Association. These Trustees were to be a self- perpetuating Board. Considerable discussion followed, but no definite amendment was offered. The self-perpetuating fea- ture of the Board of Trustees was objected to, but it was sug- gested, and seemed reasonable, that if, in the judgment of any future Convention, it should seem best to adopt a different method of perpetuating the Board, any reasonable modification could be secured in response to the desire and action of such Convention. The Act was then accepted by a large majority. To this Convention the Committee reported an annual ex- penditure, beyond precedent, of over $27,500, and was au- thorized to increase this, if possible, to $35,000 upon lines of work already begun. The Committee's report to the Conven- tion of 1883 in one paragraph gives an interesting answer to the question: "What is the work of the International Com- mittee?" "It is to organize local Associations, advise with local and State Secretaries and Boards of Management about the diffi- culties experienced in State and local work, to address public meetings and parlor conferences in regard to this work of the Associations; in cases of special stress and difQculty to raise money for the employment of Secretaries, for the erection of buildings, and for the extinction of debts which threaten the life of Associations ; to look up and train suitable men for the office of General Secretaries; and, when solicited by Associa- tions, to bring such men to their notice; to disseminate infor- mation touching the history, character, and progress of Asso- ciation work, by the use of newspapers, printed circulars, re- ports, addresses, and tracts upon special phases of the work. Of the last named not less than 125,000 are circulated annually. The Committee especially seeks through its Secretaries, to place one Association after another, as it may solicit counsel and aid, in such a position that it will not thereafter feel it necessary to call upon the Committee. It seeks so to foster the 188 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Association sentiment in one state, and then in another, that a State Secretary can be supported who shall care for and guide, under the State Committee, the work in a given section without more than occasional visits from the representatives of the International Committee. As illustrating the work of our Secretaries in a given city or town, one of many letters received at our of&ce is submitted : .'Dear Sir: I desire to express to the Committee, on behalf of our Board of Directors, our most sincere thanks for the assistance ren- dered through Secretary Cree. Recently he spent a week with us, and by his earnest efforts and untiring energy succeeded in placing us in good shape, and working up our finances for the ensuing year. Coming as he did at a bad time of the year, we ourselves thought it almost impossible to raise a sufficient amount for our necessary expenses. This being a cotton sec- tion, there is no great amount of business being done here at present, merchants are depressed, and business men are al- most idle; in fact, it is the worst time in the whole year for raising money for anything. But he went to work and secured about enough for all our needs. He is an indefatigable worker. He made many friends here, strengthened our work in every way, and gave us some excellent suggestions. Financially and spiritually we are stronger. His visit helped me as a Secretary, wonderfully. This being my first field, he gave me valuable assistance. But for his timely aid I fear the Association would have "closed up" in about two months. We will never forget him, nor will the students of the University here, for the work he did among them. We will always thank you for giving us his service.' "^ Secretarial Training Schools Authorised To the Convention of 1883, the Committee in its report pre- sented a situation of grave urgency in regard to the need of men with qualification and training for the General Secre- taryship. As early as 1872, Weidensall had declared that a school for training Secretaries was needed and had prophesied that one would be established. Some years afterward, about 1880, I made a vigorous at- tempt to establish such a school. At that time the Treasurer of the Committee, Benjamin C. Wetmore, was an active lay- man of the Protestant Episcopal Church and a promoter and > Report of the International Convention of 1883, pp. XXII-XXIII, ENTERING THE SECOND DECADE 189 teacher in a House or school in New York City for training Christian and church workers. He was willing to attach to this institute ar branch for the training of Association Secre- taries, if a suitable man could be secured as a teacher and principal. Charles E. Dyer was then the acceptable General Secretary at Detroit, and seemed to me one of the Secretaries best quali- fied for such a position. To begin the undertaking I had' secured the offer of financial help to the amount of $3,000 for the first year. Dyer came to our office for consultation and was willing to attempt the work if the Committee was ready to begin the school. Among our influential friends and counselors at this time was Dr. Nathan Bishop, a retired physician. To him and other friends the clinical or appren- ticeship method we were following, of seeking for men among volunteers on the working committees and giving them train- ing by contact with competent Secretaries, seemed adequate to our present need, and better than dependence upon a school for training. It was an apprenticeship method tested, he thought, and not found wanting in some branches of his own medical profession. For a time this counsel prevailed with the Committee and its Secretarial Bureau, but to me the decision was a serious disappointment. To the Milwaukee Convention of 1883 I reported the fol- lowing attempt to reenforce this apprenticeship method of training. "At Harrisburg, Poughkeepsie, and Newburg, near New York, and at Peoria, Illinois, the Secretaries in charge, James McConaughy, Wm. H. Morriss, Jacob T. Bowne, and L. Wilbur Messer, through careful arrangement from the Committee's Bureau, are receiving candidates for the secre- taryship, recommended by International, State, and local Sec- retaries, and are giving them instruction in the work. During two years— 1881-2— sixty-four received this training, of whom fifty-two are now in the work. The number of those reported as having come to the attention of the Committee's oface is two hundred and ninety, and every one of the Committee's force is active in this Secretarial Department. The number of college graduates entering the office is increasing." James McCormick, in adding another to his many offers of timely help, gave me liberty to offer to promising candidates the 190 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN payment of their expenses, when such help was necessary to secure for them this opportunity. When I sent to him for the amount needed on behalf of a dozen such young men, with a mortifying confession that four of them had not made good, he replied, enclosing his check for the amount desired, and adding that he paid for those four with a peculiar satisfaction because he had thus prevented the serious loss to Associa- tions which otherwise would have been sustained in experi- menting with these candidates! While much had been accomplished by this clinical method, the call for a Training School was not silenced. The Con- vention of 1883 after approving of its secretarial work and authorizing the Committee to expend at least $3,000 annually in increasing its efftciency, also resolved that to the next Con- vention should be presented "a plan for a permanent Institute or Training School for Candidates." This action opened the way to the gradual establishment of such a school. Following the instruction to enlarge its Secretarial Department the Committee promptly secured as its Secretary for that depart- ment, Jacob T. Bowne, who had shown qualification for such a position while Secretary at Newburgh, where he had dealt very acceptably with candidates who had been sent to him for training.2 Chicago Representation and Development To the Milwaukee Convention there came from Chicago, representing the strong new departure in that city, James L. Houghteling, its new President, and Cyrus H. McCormick and John V. Farwell, Jr. These directors and the General Secre- tary, A. T. Hemingway, had begun to establish the Association upon the basis of the entire fourfold work. The beginning of this new departure at Chicago dated, as did that in San Francisco, from an evangelistic campaign of Moody's, held in that city in the year 1877, following his Hippodrome meetings in New York. At his request the Com- mittee was glad to depute Thomas K. Cree to be the Executive Secretary of the Chicago campaign, as he had been of that in Philadelphia. Thus Moody began to bring the Committee into vital touch with the problems of Association work in Chicago. ' p. 258. ENTERING THE SECOND DECADE 191 One result of this campaign was the election of a leading merchant of the city, Turlington W. Harvey, as President of the Chicago Association. In the series of parlor conferences, after the Louisville Con- vention, the third on the list was held at Chicago in February, 1878, and in 1880 and 1881 two similar conferences were held, also in February. The second of these met in the new home of Cyrus H. McCormick, James McCormick coming from Harrisburg to preside. The work of the Committee was fully presented by its Secretaries. Cyrus H. McCormick, Jr., recently graduated at Princeton, had begun to be interested in the work both of the Committee and of the Chicago Associa- tion, as a result of these successive contacts with International counsel and cooperation. During these first years of transition to the broad fourfold work in the second city on the continent, Turlington W. Harvey rendered, as President, an invaluable service. Whenever I visited the city he befriended me with counsel and cooperation which were invaluable. He and Henry J. Willing were among the friends of those strenuous years, whose memory I cherish most gratefully. Both of them helped, with Hemingway, Weidensall, and myself, to enlist James L. Houghteling in 1882 as the successor of Mr. Harvey in the presidency. Mr. Houghteling was a recent graduate of Yale and the youngest member of the Chicago Commercial Club, whose enrolment was limited to sixty members. John V. Farwell, Jr., another graduate of Yale, some years later succeeded Mr. Houghteling as President. It was this new departure which was signalized at Mil- waukee by the Chicago delegation, and by a trenchant paper from President Houghteling on the theme, "What the Com- munity Has a Eight to Expect From the Association, and What the Association Has a Eight to Expect From the Com- munity." This paper was at once published by the Committee in pamphlet form and had a wide circulation. Enlargement of the International Committee As provided in the Act of Incorporation, the Milwaukee Con- vention enlarged the International Committee to consist of thirty-three regular voting members and nine advisory mem- bers, with a Board of fifteen Trustees. Of these, ten regular 192 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN and three advisory members composed the quorum, and were resident in New York City and its vicinity. By this increase of the number in New York, six new members were secured who were available to man the sub-committees which were now necessary to aid the Chairman in a work of administra- tion which was growing too onerous for him. Mr. Vanderbilt already had been placed in charge of the Railroad Department, and Henry Webster and Cleveland H. Dodge were entrusted with the direction of the College Work. To the sub-committees in charge of other departments were added Moses Taylor Pyne and Richard M. Colgate. This en- largement of the Committee and its work distributed growing responsibilities among sub-committees. To my conferences with the Chairman were now added the calling and attendance upon meetings of these sub-committees. Development of State and Local Work The Louisville Convention had released its Committee' from the burden connected with the annual Convention, and more of my time was given to attending and strengthening the twenty-five State and Provincial Conventions. The years since 1870 had been an interesting period of transition during which was gradually accomplished, without bitter controversy, a radical change in the method and staff of State and Pro- vincial Work, already stated elsewhere. Meanwhile, a cor- responding change in the local work had been gradually effected by local Association leaders — a change strongly pro- moted also by the discussions and conclusions of the Annual Secretaries' Conference. From a city where the Association had attempted to do a work wholly evangelistic, a prominent Christian man of public spirit, who had himself been active and self-denying in the work, wrote me : "I have felt for years past that our work though most valu- able in one respect was a minus quantity in what appears to me to be the very center point of the Young Men's Christian Association. It lacked holding power upon young men as a preventive and home agency. It was merely doing some evan- gelistic work among some of our young men. But from my experience of the last fifteen years, I have found that, however valuable this work may be as an adjunct, it is not the sole and ENTERING THE SECOND DECADE 193 whole work of the Association. To the thousands of young men who have not this advantage we want to offer the elements of a well organized club or social resort without the concomi- tants that make it injurious. Through our new Secretary, I trust we shall be able in our city before long to model our Association on this basis with adequate equipment." An Association President of the period, subjected to pressure from unwise friends, writes: "We must stem the tide of every variety of suggestion and objection — from the depraved desecrator, who urges that we should eradicate Christian from the name, throw the Bible out of the window and introduce the pool ball and the poker chip, to the devotionalist, who demands that we purge the temple, close the gymnasium, shut up the reading room, banish sociability and entertainments, and permit nothing but plain chairs, bare walls, and a perpetual high pressure prayer meeting. Avoiding either extreme, the mission of the Associa- tion is to seek to benefit the young man in body, mind, and spirit, physically, socially, educationally, and spiritually." An unprecedented union of Association leaders — local, State, and International — was thus promoted upon the distinctive fourfold work, and the Associations now were getting ready for specialization upon each feature of this composite work, which they had heretofore developed as a unit. During this period of transition the Associations had become unanimous in the adoption of the evangelical church basis of membership, giving new emphasis to their union with the Church. The city Associations also, through their super- visory agencies, began to foster among college, railroad, Ger- man speaking, and colored men that extension of the work to different classes which was destined steadily to expand the Association movement on this, and eventually on all other con- tinents. The change of emphasis in State Work had been peacefully accomplished and Association leaders, both State and Inter- national, began to place the stress of their endeavor upon im- provement in method and staff of work and workers. For the State Convention of New York I was asked for a paper upon the "Primary Principles of State Work" and took the ground that State Committees — as well as the International — had gradually learned in the school of experience that the pre- 194 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN liminary to wise extension must be careful supervision or overlooking of existing Association work, resting on an ac- curate knowledge of new departures and developments. It is only as the supervisory agency stands for the accumulated experience of the best Associations on its field that it is in a position to extend the work. Its province is primarily super- vision without authority and secondly extension of the area of the Association field. In the beginning and for more than the first decade (1866- 79) the majority of the State Conventions were held in the autumn, but it was not a favorable season for the attendance of laymen. In 1880 the New York Committee made trial of February, Ohio and Michigan followed, and after a few years February became the favorite State Convention month. As the state organizations grew stronger they entered upon that closer supervision, reaching to the smaller cities and com- munities, which was a field peculiarly their own. How most effectively to combine this close supervision, as it was termed, with the general supervision entrusted to the International Committee became a problem which in some instances was difficult of solution. And as the departments of the Associa- tions increased in number, and the calls upon the supervisory agencies multiplied, questions concerning the relationship of these agencies to one another and to the local organizations which had created them caused discussion and differences of opinion which led to important action by future Conventions.^ The Annual Meeting op the International Committee and ITS Secretaries Enlargement of the work and working force of the Com- mittee led to the creation of a new agency in administration. Its birthplace was McBurney's tower room in "the old 23rd Street building." In a letter of December, 1882, a few months before the Milwaukee Convention, I wrote : "December is a stay- at-home-month with me. (This was true of every December from 1869 to 1902.) At the close of the year, oflflce work is unusually engrossing. One by one the Secretaries of the Com- mittee have been summoned for report and consultation, until the week before Christmas found them all, save one, in the » Pp. 442-56. ENffiRlNG THE SECOND DECADE 195 city. We dined and spent an evening together in McBurney's Tower-sky-Secretarial Parlor. Four members of the Committee were present with eight Secretaries. We tarried together until nearly midnight and traversed the entire round of the wide work entrusted to us. It was one of the most satisfactory reviews of the situation that I have listened to. The only un- welcome note came from the financial quarter. Some uncer- tainty was expressed lest the gifts of the year might not equal the expenses. But day before yesterday (Dec. 29th) there came by telegram and mail from San Francisco, Chicago, Augusta, and nearer points, enough money to enable the Treasurer to close his books yesterday morning with a balance of less than twenty dollars in the bank !" The four members present were Chairman Brainerd, Mc- Burney, Benjamin C. Wetmore, and Henry M. Moore, of Bos- ton. The eight Secretaries were Weidensall, Cree, Uhl, Inger- soU, Watkins, H. E. Brown, Wieting, and the General Secre- tary. A turkey dinner was served in the tower room by the janitor and his wife, the Chairman carving the turkey. This was the historic beginning of the Committee's Anniversary dinner meeting, now (1917) in its thirty-fifth year and of greatly enlarged dimensions.* The Committee's expenditure for 1882 had been $25,868.89. During that December evening every Secretary, save one absentee, Luther D. Wishard, was heard from. Many questions were asked and answered. All were convinced that it was a new kind of helpful consultation. It was agreed to arrange for such a meeting in Milwaukee immediately upon the adjourn- ment there of the International Convention of that year. There ten Committee men and seven Secretaries received the same impression that had been made at the dinner in the tower room. This time they spent six hours together, taking dinner be- tween the two sessions. For several years in November or December these meetings continued to be held and were con- fined to members of the Committee and Secretaries. But the presentation of the work proved so superior to that practicable in parlor conferences, that gradually friends of the work were invited. In 1886 by invitation of the Chicago members of the Com- 4 The attendance in November, 1916, wae over 700. 196 . MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN mittee, two such dinners were given in that city — in April and November — attended by many friends. For the purposes of the Committee these meetings were of increasing value, for they steadily enlarged the constituency of friends intelligently acquainted with what was being accomplished by each de- partment. On the other hand the original object of the meet- ing, as a consultation between Committee and Secretaries, was not promoted by this growing attendance. Also, a better sea- son of the year for such a consultation was the month of September, after the summer recess and at the opening of a new year of work. Therefore in 1893 a change was made. The dinner meetings were continued in November or Decem- ber as an anniversary occasion when the whole work could be presented by all the Secretaries to the Committee and con- stituency, so far as these could be brought together. In 1893 the annual consultation meeting began to take place in Septem- ber. Both these features of the Committee's administration have been continued and expanded with the growth of its work and both date their origin from the dinner of 1882 in the tower room. In 1917 the September meeting began to be held in the spring as a more convenient season of the year. Marriage Some weeks before the Milwaukee Convention I had become engaged to be married to Miss Jane Elizabeth Van Cott, daugh- ter of Hon. Joshua Marsden Van Cott, a lawyer of wide and honorable repute in both Brooklyn and New York. Two large families — of ten and eleven children, eighteen of whom were then living — were thus brought by us into nearer relation to one another. For many years there had been pleasant inter- course among us. An older sister of Miss Van Cott I had known as the fiancee and later the wife of my intimate friend and classmate Henry H. Stebbins. Soon after our graduation together in 1867 I had served as "best man" at their wedding in the Van Cott homestead. And now in the same family home (June 21, 1883) we were married by Dr. Stebbins, then pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Oswego, New York, assisted by the pastor and friend of the bride. Dr. Eichard S. Storrs, of Brooklyn. Not long after our marriage, at one of thf dinner meetings ENTERING THE SECOND, DECADE 197 of the Committee held in Brooklyn, after a viyid presentation of the work of the Committee by its entire staff, Mrs. Morse's father, as our honored guest, made a vigorous address in which with fine discrimination he characterized the work of the Association and its International Committee as "a happy combination of the Christian religion and common — or as it might be better termed — uncommon-sense." At the close of the evening, when the speaker was lamenting to a group of the staff the smallness of the contribution he was able to make to a work in which he was so deeply interested, he encountered a chorus of protest with an emphatic assertion that in the per- son of his daughter he was making a contribution of value altogether incalculable in the terms of finance and inestimable in the coinage of character and cooperation. For me our wedding was the beginning of an unusually happy married life of thirty-four years. Our tastes and temperaments were congenial, and their points of difference or variation have promoted in a gracious way a growing agree- ment and fellowship, quite beyond my power adequately to describe. In all my work and in very many joumeyings over seas and lands we have enjoyed a partnership that has meant invaluable mutual cooperation. Without such cooperation this narrative could not have been produced. Children have been denied us, to our great sorrow, but to our great joy our home has been constantly shared by the many children of our brothers and sisters, both with their parents and without them. College and Association friends and fellow workers from this and other lands also have been frequent and welcome guests. For the first fifteen years (1883-98) of our married life, be- cause my private office was in our home, the home was neces- sarily located near the Committee's headquarters in the "old 23rd Street building," at the corner of Fourth Avenue. Then until 1904 we dwelt in the Harlem district of Manhattan. But after she had thus for over twenty years come to my side of the East Eiver it seemed only fair to cast our lot near the Van Cott homestead on her side of that stream. Meanwhile Brook- lyn had become a borough of the greater city, united first by bridge and then more closely by subway. Here, as the years went by, even her busy life seemed to grow busier in its minis- try to others, both within and beyond the family circle. When 198 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN her lovely spirit went home in 1917, she had completed as a member of the Presbyterian Women's Board of Foreign Missions over twenty-five years of a service of wise and grow- ing leadership. Eobert Speer has written of this service: "There are places where it will be hard to grow accustomed to the absence of her bright understanding, the quick apprehen- sion of her clear mind, and the shrewd sense and judgment of her counsel." Of her recent departure another friend "writes me : April 24, 1917. "My dear Mr. Morse : Mrs. Morse's body had been laid to rest and her beautiful spirit had gone home before I knew anything at all except of her first illness. I feel as if I should have liked to look in her face again, for she was always an inspiration to me. When our babies were little in Japan, she was in our home and did me so much good with her cheer and bright ways. I remember she introduced Benjamin Bunny and Peter Rabbit into our household where they have been favorites ever since. Later, here at home it has always been a joy to see her : carrying her years so gracefully and keeping her heart young in her service for others. The last time I visited with her was when we met in New York to talk over life in Japan. It was beautiful to see her loving thought of you then. Indeed, I have often felt I should like to be as Mrs. Morse was, when I grow old. The other side holds no terrors with so many of our dear ones there. It becomes nearer as the years go on. May the Comforter keep us and make us fit to join all our loved ones over there." The Conventions of 1885 and 1887 Eecent Conventions had been traveling westward from Toronto and Baltimore to Cleveland and Milwaukee and now in 1885 at Atlanta the Convention was entertained with genuine southern hospitality, for this was in the era before self-enter- taining Conventions were introduced. Major Joseph Hardie ten years before this time had been president at Richmond, and during the interval had been an unusually active, devoted mem- ber of the International Committee, advocating its work at parlor conferences and elsewhere by wide visitation. He was enthusiastically chosen at Atlanta to preside a second time. The friend who brought to this Convention the moving spiritual and evangelistic message which it carried to ther city Mk. and Mrs. Morse Under the Richard C. Morse Tree at Seabeok, Washington, 1915 ENTERING THE SECOND DECADE 199 and citizens of Atlanta was the saintly Bishop Baldwin, of Huron, who came from Canada, as the guest of the Convention, to open the Bible topic on Wednesday evening. His theme was: "Is the Bible Adapted to Young Men of Today, and If So, Why ?" He also led very impressively the devotional serv- ices of the delegates. The devotional and evangelistic message, emphasized by the good Bishop, produced a profound impres- sion upon the people of Atlanta. This interest culminated during Sunday and was felt in all the churches as a revival influence. Henry W. Grady, gifted and eloquent editor of the leading journal in that section of the country — the Atlanta Constitution, was among those most profoundly wrought upon, and his public testimony to the change he had experienced was a moving incident of that last day of the Convention, which was also the first Sunday of a revival led by the pastors of the city and by one of the delegates who tarried for the purpose — Dr. L. W. Munhall, of Indiana. Like Moody, Sankey, Say- ford, Yatman, Hillis, Sunday, and others. Dr. Munhall, after strong leadership and good training in Association work, was about to enter now the path of fruitful evangelistic effort, where for over thirty years he has been bringing an ever- growing multitude into the Church and Kingdom of our Lord. One feature of this religious interest was the number of leading citizens who were influenced. They belonged to the group of business men who, by their energy and enterprise, had been earning for the city its title to preeminence. Natu- rally this impression upon the heart and life, connected as it was with a new presentation of the nature of Association work for young men, led to a strong demand for such an Association building as should be worthy of the city. To promote this undertaking, I tarried with some of my associates for some days after the Convention. The first night, in a remarkable parlor meeting, under the leadership of Mr. Grady and men like-minded, $20,000 was pledged toward the build- ing fund. The Atlanta Constitution in every daily issue- beginning with the following morning, Tuesday, May 19th— announced the progress of the campaign, and became the lead- ing solicitor for the fund. A wide canvass in this novel news- paper endeavor was carried to a successful result, and Atlanta promptly secured its first Association building. 200 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN After the Convention an important meeting of the Com- mittee and its corresponding members and Secretaries was held. Major Hardie, Captain 'Charles W. Lovelace, and other delegates from the South, were urgent that the Committee should place a Secretary who should give all his time to that section of the country. Only a part of Cree's time had been given there and progress had been made. This only empha- sized the call for more incessant supervision and led to the assignment of Charles K. Ober, and later of Hans P. Ander- sen, to this field of service, with headquarters at Atlanta. Two notable guests from Europe attended both the Conven- tion and the Secretaries', Conference of that year: Christian Phildius, the Berlin Secretary, and Edmund J. Kennedy, who had succeeded Hind Smith as Secretary at Exeter Hall, London. At the Berlin Conference in 1884, Mrs. Morse and I had en- joyed being the guests of Mr. and Mrs. Phildius, and now we had the pleasure of entertaining both him and Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy in our home. To the Convention Mr. Phildius said: "The work of your International Committee has been inter- national indeed. It has reached across the ocean and through Frederic von Schluembach an Association like yours in Amer- ica has been organized in Berlin. As soon as we began your Committee did all they could to help. Your General Secretary has bestowed a fatherly care upon the work in Berlin. I have been asked to come over as your guest and study Association work here. Germany is much indebted to the efforts of your Committee." Phildius made a careful study of our work at first hand, visiting a group of the leading Associations. He very favor- ably impressed his American fellow Secretaries, and gave us the impression of having accomplished, with his associates in Berlin, a work for young men that compared favorably with what the best of Association Secretaries had achieved in other lands. He was spoken of among our Secretaries as "the Mc- Burney of the continent of Europe." His experience on this trip opened his path to several later visits, all of which were of international value to the work of the world brotherhood. To that brotherhood since 1896 he has given faithful and in- estimable service as a General Secretary of its World's Com- mittee. ENTERING THE SECOND DECADE 201 The Secretarial Bureau and the Historical Library From Secretary Jacob T. Bowne, the Atlanta Convention received encouraging report of his first two years in charge of the Secretarial Bureau. Upon careful examination of our records, he reported that in 1883 there were 322 Secretaries on the roll at work in 231 Associations. In 1885, the number was 399 in 273 Associations. This was part of a steady in- crease from the 114 men who were on its roll in 1876. Dur- ing the decade there had been improvement also in the quality of work and workers. During the past two years he had dealt with 432 men as candidates and of this number 161 found places in the work, of whom 107 were suggested by the Bureau. To this Convention also the Committee through its chairman reported the very generous gift from Secretary Bowne of what is now known as "The Bowne Historical Library." It was then and is now the best collection yet made of Young Men's Christian Association literature. Secretary Bowne had spent many years and rendered an invaluable service in col- lecting, arranging, and preserving this large and important collection. And now he gave it to the Associations to be held in trust for them by their Committee. The Convention ac- knowledged the gift with hearty thanks to the donor and re- quested all the Associations to send to it two copies of each of their publications. Mr. Bowne continued to give his in- dispensable fostering care as its custodian after he became in 1886 instructor and then librarian at the Springfield Train- ing School. In 1908 when the Committee could accommodate the collection in a fireproof building of its own, the library was removed to New York. Meanwhile at Springfield, Pro- fessor Bowne had begun a duplicate collection for the Train- ing School. In its turn quite recently (1912) a fire proof building was provided on the campus of the college for this second collection. Both collections constitute a double gift to the entire world brotherhood, the value of which will steadily grow with the years and awaken gratitude to the founder from generation to generation of Association leaders and workers. The Convention of 1887 at San Francisco At Atlanta two cities— Pliiladelphia and San Francisco— 202 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN asked importunately for the next Convention. The call from the Pacific Coast for its first Convention prevailed, provided the Committee could incur the expense involved in the neces- sary arrangements for attendance, and could obtain the needed concessions for transportation. It was a pioneer undertaking, for none of the Conventions had been held beyond the Mis- sissippi, and we were asked to cross not only that river, but the Eocky Mountains also. It would break a path to the Pacific, so we were told, for other Conventions than ours. During the following year, while correspondence and delibera- tion on this subject were in progress, Elbert B. Monroe ex- pressed to me his conviction that the Committee could not issue an effectual call to the Associations to be adequately represented on the Pacific Coast, unless an extra fund of at least |5,000 could be secured for such visitations and program arrangements as would secure a Convention worthy to rank with those of the past and future. In connection with his suggestion and according to his custom, he offered one-tenth of such a fund. This good begtaning was followed by the com- pletion of the sum by other donors and a decision in favor of San Francisco resulted. A strong program of topics and speakers and timely tours of visitation by Association leaders united in attracting to San Francisco convention delegates, and to Oakland a Secretaries' Conference which proved help- ful and invigorating to Association work and workers on the Pacific Coast. To the General Secretary of the Committee it gave welcome opportunity to visit the Association field far beyond the Mis- sissippi, including Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, Sacra- mento, San Francisco, Portland, Helena, and Fargo. I was also able to enjoy a visit to the Yosemite and to Yellowstone Park. Toward the close of the year 1885, for an interdenomina- tional conference held in Cincinnati, I prepared a paper upon the mission, method, and message of our Associations, so far as these had been developed at that time, when a thousand Associations were in existence with 150,000 members and 500 employed officers. In printed form this proved to be a substitute for my pam- phlet : "The Young Men's Christian Association As It is," which ENTERING THE SECOND DECADE 203 had been published in 1872 and revised in successive editions. It was published in the year-book of 1886 and later was issued in a pamphlet, subsequently revised like its predecessor. Its closing paragraph states that it was "an attempt to show that by patient effort and experiment of many years, the Associa- tions when occupying suitable buildings and well officered proved an efficient agency in promoting the welfare of young men, physically and mentally, spiritually and socially, in cities, schools and universities, and at railroad centers ; that the de- mand for this work is immensely greater than the supply of either men or money for its prosecution ; that efficient agencies, International and State, exist to conserve and extend this work at home and abroad ; and that its vital force and energy come from the irresistible love for young men which springs from the love of Him whose name the Association bears, for whose service it has been created and on whose presence and blessing all its usefulness depends." Supplemental Temporary Agents In the beginning, when the Committee had no employed officers, more cooperation and supervision was called for on the Association field than the members could give. This excess of demand over supply continued from decade to decade, though both members and employed officers increased in num- ber and unitedly sought to answer the calls upon them. Under this pressure much supplemental work was secured each year from volunteers, or agents who could give only temporary service. Money for much of this work was sought and found outside of the Committee's treasury. In this way valuable visitation at the South was secured from George A. Hall and Wm. F. Lee in 1870, and from George A. Hall, Thomas K, Cree, and Thane Miller in 1875, '76, '77. To the Convention of 1887 was reported additional help of this kind from fourteen temporary workers. Before the next Convention eight had been secured to render timely aid to Associations which the regular force was not large enough to serve. The number of these additional helpers varied each year from ten to fifteen, and their enlistment and the adjustment of their service upon the different fields of work was an inter- esting and rewarding endeavor, especially during the decade 204 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN following 1887, and covering the first long absence from the country of Wishard (1888-93) and Mott (1895-7). Growth of Financial Support op the Committee's Work Upon donors who were willing and able to provide the finan- cial support needed by the Associations, local work in city and county had first claim. The State Work was near at hand and visible enough to have next claim upon those willing to give heed to a second appeal. The International Committee was at a third remove, and less appealing, even to convention dele- gates who valued the work of their Convention's Committee and authorized its continuance and growth, but who felt con- strained to condition that continuance upon the Committee's procuring the financial support needed for it. Of the beginning of the Committee's effort in this direction of self-support, and of its first parlor conferences, the story has already been told. ^ Twenty-seven such conferences had been held before 1882. Parlor conferences were begun in 1874 when only one regular contribution as large as |500 was being received for the Com- mittee's work. Experience taught the value of the presence at each conference of Secretaries of the Committee who could report at first hand, out of their own activity, all the varied work. The impression needed could be made only by those who were doing the work. In every instance some prominent citizen invited the conference to his home for an afternoon and evening. The Secretaries presented, in turn, each phase of the work among students, railroad men, colored and German speaking young men, and other classes. Cooperation was given at different places by members of the Committee and other friends, who testified concerning the value of the work. Dur- ing the first four years over eight hundred men in fifteen cities attended the meetings and carried to many more the favorable impressions they received. Most of these had been kept by business and other engagements from attending As- sociation Conventions, and from examining with care even the work of the local organization, much less that of the Inter- national Committee. 'Pp. 129-39, 151, 179, 191. ENTERING THE SECOND DECADE 205 No money was solicited at the meetings, but a statement was made of the work, and of the economy of its prosecution. In each place some wise citizen — often our host — ^who was well acquainted with those of his fellow citizens who were friendly to Association work, afterward gave counsel as to those among the guests who could be wisely approached for help by inter- view or letter. These successive conferences were so timed as to allow of my following up each of them by getting in touch with some of those present. Two principal impressions were created: (1) The extent, importance, and small cost of the work entrusted to the Com- mittee created surprise and appreciation. (2) The primacy of the local work was emphasized. At every session the Presi- dent, Secretary, or some other active Association worker, while expressing the hope that help would come to our Committee and its work, invariably added: "However this may be, much more help than you will receive will come to our local work by your visit." These conferences suggested to state and local organizations an excellent agency in promoting their own work and they were widely used for this purpose. Donors and Their Gifts A good beginning was thus made in securing a list of donors intelligently sympathetic with the Committee and its Secre- taries. Some were specially interested in one department, and some in another, but as a rule the gift was made to the work in its entirety. As the only one of the Committee's staff who could attend all these conferences, I was responsible for the program of each, as well as for the solicitation which followed. My associates on the staff", during the seventies and eighties, were thus released to give themselves each more en- tirely—perhaps too entirely— to the work in his own depart- ment. But they were taught by example the method of financ- ing, and later, out of the sense of need, each by precept and command was enlisted to carry financial responsibility for his own department. Major Hardie and Captain Lovelace, of Alabama, and Thane Miller, of Cincinnati, attended more of the early conferences than did any other membfers. During the first series, in February and March, 1878, I was impressed with the fact that the work appealed more 206 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN strongly than I had expected to men who were able and willing to give large contributions. Several donors were added to the list of three who were giving $500 each, among them Messrs. Vanderbilt and Jesup. During 1880 the number on this list had increased to twelve, and the total of their gifts was equal to nearly twenty-five per cent of the Committee's expenditure for that year. From one hundred and six contributors was received $12,000, seventy-five per cent of the budget to be re- ported at the next Convention. A select number of these donors became regular contributors, while a larger number were of the disappearing class. Not a few of them were ignor- ant at first of local and State Work. Those phases soon began to attract their attention. When giving in all three directions became impracticable, preference was given to the work nearer home. In this way some direct financial benefit in the end was received by the whole work, local and State, as well as International. Much more came indirectly. During the early years I had started a small subscription book, in which were entered only the names of the donors of $500. It soon occurred to me that there were some who might be willing to give more than this amount and when it was suggested to Cornelius Vanderbilt that he increase his sub- scription to $1,000, he conceded it was fair for me to ask, but hesitated lest he might be left alone on the new list — a result contrary to my plan. Was he willing to join some one else? When to this query he gave a favorable reply and I reported this to James McCormick, of Harrisburg, he con- sented to begin a new list with $1,000 in a second book, on con- dition that his name should not be published, and should be seen only by those who might be solicited to join as donors of this larger sum. Vanderbilt added his name, but expressed solicitude lest, when hard times came, this list would be most diflBcult to maintain. In point of fact, at each recurring period of financial depression more trouble was experienced with other sections of the Committee's constituency than with this. The names of Morris K. Jesup, William E. Dodge, William Thaw, and later Cyrus H. McCormick, John D. Eockefeller, William K. Vanderbilt, and others were added. In 1881 the Committee was able to carry an expenditure ten per cent larger than that of the previous year. The Convention of 1881 au- ENTERING THE SECOND DECADE 207 thorized an increase of another ten per cent. Eight years had now passed since our experience at the Dayton Convention, when an expenditure of one-sixth of the sum now voted could not be met. A path of endeavor had been found, along which it had been possible to secure a substantial and stable support for the work. The parlor conferences continued to be efficient until 1882, when there appeared symptoms of their wearing out. The dinner meeting, gradually resorted to as a substitute, proved more effective and enduring. Audiences were willing to tarry longer to listen to speakers during an evening session which included the evening meal. In later years the luncheon hour began to be successfully utilized, not only for financial appeal, but for committee meetings of every sort. The two subscription books were small and frail, and were begun with no thought of their having a long life. At the end of ten years they were carefully rebound, with fresh pages added for use in the years to come. Every subscriber was able to read the ^-ecord from the beginning of the group of sup- porters he was asked to join. From year to year the pages carried an appeal which steadily grew stronger, and some donors passed from the |500 book to the other, while the reverse of this was very infrequent. For nearly ten years there was no plea for a larger annual gift than $1,000 from any one person. Toward the close of the year 1889 the annual expenditure on the home field had in- creased to over 150,000 and to this was added the cost of the first year's work on the foreign field. When the last of December arrived the threat of a larger deficit confronted us. For a number of years the budget had been so well provided for that during most of December and the early part of Janu- ary I had been able, as an advisory director of the New York Association, to render help to the Finance Committee, of which Cornelius Vanderbilt was then chairman. It was also my custom, during each December, to secure upon the two little books as many renewals as possible for the coming year, as this was a better time to do it than the first part of the new year. From more than one came, as he returned the book, a check for the coming year. This was a great help in the first month of each new year, during those 208 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN early decades when without any endowment the Committee's treasury was invariably empty on December 31st. The trying situation of the Committee in December, 1889, demanded unusual effort. One member of the Committee, Charles L. Colby, whose regular subscription was already re- corded and paid, entered his name again for an emergency gift of |1,000. This encouraged me to send the book to another friend, Jabez Bostwick, of blessed memory, who had recently come to the annual dinner meeting, and whose name, as a conse- quence, was already in the book of 1889. The following page, as usual, had been prepared for the subscriptions of the com- ing year. The book was very promptly returned to me with name and check for the extra thousand, but to my amazement I found that Mr. Bostwick had entered his name for |2,000 on the page for 1890. This was the beginning of a new record in the book. After 1890 it ceased to be known as "the one thousand dol- lar book," for Mr. Bostwick was joined by others. In 1894 the largest gift was $3,500; in 1898, |9,000; -and in 1903, $10,000. William E. Dodge began the list in 1874 with |500. At the time of his death in 1903 he was giving annually |5,000. In the years following his departure his son and daughter far more than doubled what he had given annually. Prom these donors was received a growing percentage of the Committee's annual expenditure. From these larger gifts came one-fifth when the budget was less than $25,000. When it had increased to $73,000 in 1896 the percentage from the same source was two-fifths. In 1910, of a budget of $301,000, one half was received from the same source. Several began to give before the books were used — Mr. Dodge in 1874; Mr. McCormick in 1875; Mr. Thaw and Mr. Vander- bilt in 1876. The Moody fund was $1,500 in 1876 ; $2,000 in 1877; $1,500 in 1878; $2,400 in 1879, and $2,100 in 1880. John D. Eockefeller gave $1,000 in 1884. In 1881—:^ of a budget of $27,600 came from 9 donors, 4 giving $1,000 In 1884—^ " 30,500 " 15 " 5 " In 1889—1 " 50,600 " 26 " 2 " 2,000 In 1896— f " 73,000 " 33 " 2 " " The great majority of donors were absorbed — as above men- tioned — ^by local and State Work, but this minority continued ENTERING THE SECONf) DECADE 209 from year to year, retaining not only the vision and estimate of the work, but both disposition and ability to continue and very often to increase their annual gifts. Other Methods of Financial Appeal Parallel with the financial appeals for the International Work made through (1) the Convention, (2) the parlor confer- ences, (3) the dinner meeting, (4) correspondence, (5) per- sonal visitation, a sixth was authorized by the Convention of 1873 and its successors in the form of a call upon each of the local Associations to take up a collection in aid of the work of the Committee during the November week of prayer. This was strongly urged upon the Associations as an expression of their interest in the work, and their responsibility for it. They responded with a steadily increasing contribution, from 1875 — when a total of $250 was received from twenty Associations — to 1890, when f 7,100 was received, an amount equal to one- eighth of the expenses of that year. From the year 1890 there was a steady decline in the amount received, until in 1896 it was only one twenty-second of the budget expense. While this experience led to a just emphasis on securing two-fifths of the Committee's budget from the larger contributions, we were equally obligated to secure a large per- centage of the budget from other sources. To this end a wise, persistent solicitation was organized, which carried the appeal of this varied work which was benefiting an increasing multi- tude of young men and boys to those who could give only small sums. The Secretarial Bureau of the Committee appealed to Asso- ciation employed oflScers, and their aid in an increasing num- ber of small gifts was heartily given. In 1892 the tax of Strenuous visitation upon his strength compelled Thomas Cree to withdraw from that important phase of the work. He then became remarkably eflScient in framing, at the office, a well organized correspondence, which carried to a growing multi- tude of givers of small sums the effective appeal of the various growing departments of the Committee's work. By this quiet but increasingly valuable service for fifteen years, he secured one-tenth of the financial support of the home work of the Committee. 210 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN By these and kindred means the deficiency of the Day of Prayer collections and of similar sources of revenue was made up, so as to secure a steadily increasing number of contributors to current expenses. In 1904 the Committee could report that "during the past seven years the number of contributors had increased from 2,000 to nearly 6,000." The great majority of these individual gifts averaged much less than flO each. The undiminished emphasis placed from the beginning on a wide solicitation and appeal to all other classes of donors, was one of the considerations which strongly and favorably influenced the friends who have continued their support by gifts of large amount. In the endeavor to secure from both sources the sup- port needed for the work, I discovered later that I was blazing ' a path for my junior associates to follow, as the work grew to a dimension beyond my ability to provide for it. After the eighties it became apparent that some departments would need a staff equal to the Committee's entire force in the early years. Before the nineteenth century ended, the home work budget exceeded |125,000 and the foreign work called for nearly |40,000. Then John K. Mott had begun to carry responsibility for the Student and Foreign Work and secretarial heads of other departments were developing ca- pacity to carry their own budget. The appeal for the support of the Kailroad Work has called forth every year since its beginning a response equal to the cost of the work. CHAPTER XI FEATURES OP GROWTH AND COOPERATION Growing Allegiance to the Churches Allegiance to the evangelical churches was declared in the constitution of the first Association formed in the United States at Boston in 1851. The great majority organized in North America before 1869 had followed this precedent. But when the International Convention of that year made the adoption of the evangelical church test of active membership a condition of representation for all Associations organized after 1869, twenty per cent of the existing Associations were not on this basis. They continued entitled to representation. It was in the years immediately following the Convention of 1869 that my connection with the correspondence of the Com- mittee began. From not a few cities came a protest: "We think a mistake was made at Portland. Not the church test but the good-moral-character test of active membership should have been adopted. We are organizing on that basis." In each case the new Association was cordially invited to send corresponding members or delegates to the next Convention, with the offer for them of right to the floor in discussion and the entertainment furnished to voting delegates. As the years of experiment and experience passed by, it was the church basis Associations which procured the Secretaries who were needed to give their lives to the work, the buildings necessary for adequate equipment, and also a membership the majority of which were associate, non-voting members^a class of young men whom it was one of the principal objects of the Association to attract and benefit. This majority — associate — membership began to be obtained in 1884. In 1914 there were on the roll 280,000 active and 350,000 associate members. Also about the year 1885 the North American Associations had become practically unanimous in the adoption of the church test of membership. For their life and growth they realized their need of the close connection with the churches created by this test. They had learned this by experiment and 211 212 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN experience. For each Association had continued free and independent in relation to the test. Some in the exercise of this freedom had given it up and withdrawn from the brother- hood. Later by readopting it they had resumed fellowship. The application and interpretation of the test had been left as much as possible to the local organization. For the funda- mental idea of the Basis was and is to get together in each community from the largest number of churches possible, mem- bers who can agree to work together harmoniously to accom- plish the supreme object of the Association as defined by the Paris Basis. In the local application of the test to doubtful cases or churches, many attempts were made to remove "the court of appeal" from the local neighborhood to the Interna- tional Committee. The Committee received many requests for a list of the churches which were evangelical. But the Con- vention never instructed or authorized the Committee to keep such a list. According to the wise ruling of the chairman, the answer returned to each inquiring Association was that the local evangelical pastors and churches in each community who were already in fellowship with one another and with the local Association composed the court of appeal. In this manner the standing of the Plymouth Brother or the Sweden- borgian or the Christian Scientist or the Dowieite or the ad- herent of any other persuasion was settled locally, in a way to conserve in each case the interdenominational comity and cooperation already secured. By this practical method there was brought and kept together in each community the largest possible number of fellow churchmen who could work together harmoniously for the fundamental object of the Association. They were not outside of the churches, of which they were loyal members, but only outside of their divisions, or of such divid- ing opinions or convictions as they could consistently waive, to accomplish for Church and Kingdom the special and impor- tant work for young men that they had in hand. In this way during its formative period the Association brought to each community a double appeal — first its broad fourfold work for young men and boys and then the churchly basis upon which this work was conducted. This twofold appeal was favorably responded to in each community by a constituency of workers and supporters equal to creating a FEATURES OF GROWTH AND COOPERATION 213 Strong agency promoting Christian social welfare work among young men. It was a constituency composed of churchmen who enrolled as full members and of non-evangelicals and non- churchmen who, as public spirited citizens, were generously willing to promote a broad work, the value of which to young men and boys they appreciated. Thus while they were beginning to develop their resources and their employed staff, the City Associations^he trunk of the whole movement — strengthened their loyalty to the churches and prepared to join the Student Associations in loyally promoting during the next decade (1886-96) the work of the Church on the foreign mission field. This was accom- plished by creating the Student Volunteer Movement and by beginning to establish Associations in non-Christian lands, in answer to the call of the churches which were already estab- lished there and were urgently asking for this cooperation in their work for young men and boys. Later, in the growth of the Boys' Department, additional loyalty to the Church was manifested by cooperation with the Sunday school. In the growth of the county, or rural. Asso- ciations a similar loyalty is emphasized. Personal Connection with the Local Church As a member of the New York Presbytery after the reunion of old and new school in 1869, my connection with the local church was continued for a time at the Brick Church chapel in charge of my classmate. Dr. Lampe. When my sister came to live with me in the city (1879) we enjoyed together the pastoral care and friendship of Dr. Howard Crosby. After his death (1891) and in connection with Mrs. Morse's active grow- ing interest in the work of our Foreign Mission Board, we entered the fellowship of Dr. George Alexander as friend and pastor until the removal of our home to the Harlem district. Here for six years we were under the ministerial care in turn of two younger friends and fellow workers, Drs. Maitland Alexander and Daniel Russell. When we began to live in the Borough of Brooklyn (1904) we found our church home in the parish of Dr. L. Mason Clarke and among many old family friends of Mrs. Morse. These honored pastors and their brethren of the New York 214 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Presbytery have treated with a kindly, brotherly consideration this member of their brotherhood, who has been so often and so persistently absent from the pulpit and the stated church services. They have generously recognized in him a gift from their number to an interdenominational agency of the churches and have been willing to see that this agency of loyal church laymen had need of him. Convention Topics and Discussions of the Period 1871-1900 From its first appointment (1866) the Committee, in shap- ing the program of the Conventions, laid principal emphasis upon that fourfold work, the germinal form of which was being wrought out in the New York City Association. It was not until 1870 that a building erected for the equipment of this work emphasized both its value and importance. How the State organization, as an invaluable auxiliary agency of supervision, could be led to introduce the same emphasis into the program of their Convention was a second important problem confronting the Committee. The only in- terstate platform, on which this work, organized by interna- tional initiative, could be discussed was that of the parent International Convention. An equally necessary topic in every convention program was the steadily growing work the Convention was authorizing its Committee to carry on. Each feature had claim to atten- tion, but each could not equally command it. Strong but not conspicuous emphasis was placed upon the Secretarial Bureau, in which every member of the Committee's staff was par- ticipating. . During two decades following 1877 the Student and Eail- road sessions furnished topics concerning work which was always interesting and making progress and always command- ing the larger audiences. The Student Work was entering the student world. Its Student Volunteer Movement sounded the note of a world-wide propaganda, under the brotherhood's most capable leader. In its turn this North American Stu- dent Movement heralded and led a World Student Christian Federation, under the same capable leader, John R. Mott. The Eailroad Work entered a strongly contrasted environ- ment — the world of labor and capital, of the employer and FEATURES OF GROWTH AND COOPERATION 215 employed. Ultimately as a form of Christian welfare work it led the Associations into all other industrial classes, and was called for in the lands to which the student work propaganda was carried. As the Associations began to specialize on Physical, Edu- cational, Religious, and Boys' Work, the delegates authorized an emphasis by their Committee upon these departmental lines, always provided that the financial support in each instance could be secured. In its turn the Committee enforced the rule that no new Secretary could be added to the staff unless the expense involved was guaranteed. This financial limitation was too often an obstruction, which prevented work which otherwise, and justly, would have had prior claim to attention. On each convention program was placed a strong spiritual and inspirational theme, its message culminating on the clos- ing Sunday, and at the farewell meeting on the evening of that day. In almost every pulpit in the morning a message was heard from delegates, at the request of pastors and churches, and in the afternoon the evangelistic meeting for young men brought a blessing felt throughout the community. As each Convention closed with this most desirable emphasis on what was supreme in Association work, so, at the opening of each, at the first evening session was provided a theme relat- ing to Bible study and work. This topic has an interesting history, dating from the Washington Convention in 1871 when the theme: "God's Word — How can the Study of it be Pro- moted in the Associations," was presented by Rev. Henry M. Parsons, of Boston, followed by John S. Maclean, of Halifax, who told how this study was carried on and prevailed more among the Canadian than among the other North American Associations. At Lowell, in 1872, the topic was treated by Robert McBurney in one of the strongest and best of his many convention addresses. In 1873, at Poughkeepsie, the scholarly teacher of the remarkable Bible class of the New York Associa- tion — William H. Thompson, M.D. — captured the delegates, and a lively and impressive discussion followed. At Dayton, in 1874, W. Hind Smith brought a virile Bible class message from the British Associations, and the good influence of their exemplary emphasis on the Bible class was widely felt. In 1875, at Richmond, James McCormick, of Harrisburg, 216 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN told the stimulating story of the remarkable Bible class of which he was both teacher and pastor. At Toronto, in 1876, the British Association Bible classes were again impressively presented, this time by their father, founder, teacher, and exemplar, George Williams. He was seconded by an eloquent American Bible preacher and expositor. Dr. Stuart Robinson, of Louisville, and by Robert Orr, of Pittsburgh, who was then the leading Bible teacher and speaker among Association Sec- retaries. Another phase of this many-sided theme was treated in 1877, at Louisville, Ky., by Dr. James H. Brookes, of St. Louis. The preeminent Bible evangelist, D. L. Moody, gave to the Baltimore Convention of 1879 an address full of practical sug- gestions. For the theme : "The Study of the Bible by Books" we had been seeking an adequate treatment for several Con- ventions. Finally we secured as the speaker at Cleveland in 1881 Dr. John A. Broadus, eminent both in the pulpit and the professor's chair. So satisfactory was his discourse, and the question and answer discussion which followed, that a little pamphlet containing both address and discussion was at once issued by the Committee, and its circulation gave a wide and genuine impulse to Bible study of a practical sort. Unusually attractive and educative was that Wednesday eve- ning session at Cleveland, when Dr. Broadus spoke on this theme. It has a just preeminence in my own recollections of this long series of Bible sessions. Dr. Broadus seemed to have the faculty of taking into his class room the whole Conven- tion of four hundred delegates, with a surrounding audience on the floor and in the gallery. He dealt with us in a col- loquial, intimate manner, and, numerous as we were, we gathered about him as a small band of affectionate pupils might gather about an attractive and beloved teacher. I never imagined that in his lifelong experience as a widely known and honored instructor, this convention incident had any eminence corresponding to its rank in our Bible topic sessions, but more than thirty years afterward, his daughter told me that the memory of it was cherished by him with a peculiar affection and appreciation. This series of Bible sessions was continued in 1883 by Dr. Philip S. Henson, of Chicago, and in 1885 the saintly Dr. FEATURES OF GROWTH AND COOPERATION 217 Baldwin, Bishop of Huron, led another memorable Wednesday evening session. Dr. Herrick Johnson, of McCormick Theo- logical Seminary, accompanied us in 1887 to San Francisco to render this Bible service. At Philadelphia in 1889, the teachers were President Francis L. Patton, of Princeton, and Eussell Sturgis, Jr., of Boston. William K. Jennings, of Pittsburgh, in 1891 at Kansas City, spoke on "Bible Study Work as Developed in and by the Young Men's Christian Association." The speaker in 1893, at Indianapolis, was Pro- fessor Wilbert W. White, then of Xenia Seminary, Ohio, and now more widely known as the President of the New York Bible Training School. He was followed in 1895 at Spring- field, Mass., by President W. H. P. Faunce, of Brown Uni- versity. Thus for twenty-six years the Associations of North America in their Conventions gave this fitting emphasis to a devout, practical Bible study by their workers. The wholesome, in- spiring infiuence of this emphasis was carried down each year into thirty State and Provincial Conventions, and was strongly felt throughout the brotherhood. It found practical expres- sion in an increase of Bible classes and Bible study among the Associations and in a steadily growing issuance by the Com- mittee of pamphlets and textbooks for Bible study which are still (1917) increasing in volume and quality. At the Mobile Convention of 1897, as one fruit of these Bible sessions, an appeal was made by Fred S. Goodman, then State Secretary of New York, for a Bible Work International Sec- retary. The appeal was responded to by a call for subscrip- tions to a fund for the employment of such an International Secretary. Among those most prompt to offer a tenth of the amount needed, was Eobert McBurney, the member of the Com- mittee who from the beginning was most active in promoting these Bible sessions. This was the initial move toward a new emphasis by the International Committee on the Religious Work. A Biblical Bureau was created, of which Mr. Goodman has been the promoting Secretary, as he was its advocate and progenitor on the floor of the Mobile Convention. World's Confbrbncbs op 1881 and 1884 The first two meetings of the World's Committee to receive 218 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN reports from its first Executive Committee, were held in the capital cities of Britain and Germany. The first was welcomed to London by the parent Association, in the thirty-seventh year of its age, and was presided over by George Williams. The second was welcomed by the first Ghristlicher Verein Junger Manner formed in Germany at Berlin. It was then an infant scarcely a year old and the Conference was presided over by its President, Count Andreas von Bernstoff, who was also a leader among the Inner Mission workers of Germany.^ At London and Berlin the American delegates were deeply im- pressed by recent changes accomplished in each city during the three years' interval between the Conferences. The World Conference of 1881 At London the Earl of Shaftesbury was still President, and George Williams Treasurer of the Association. Shipton had resigned his position, after his protracted and remarkable serv- ice for over thirty years in the London secretaryship. He was honorably retired, and provision was made for the continued support of one who had rendered a service of such inestimable value in the development of work among young men in his own and other lands. To succeed Shipton, W. Hind Smith had been chosen by the London Committee. His excellent service as Secretary of the Manchester Association and his warm sympathy with the views of George Williams regarding the stronger development of Association work in London, gave him qualification for this new position. In connection with this change, Shipton had resigned as a member of the World's Committee and George Williams was chosen as his successor, continuing a member until the close of his life. Not only had there been a change in the secretaryship, but new and enlarged equipment for the Association had been secured, George Williams having led in soliciting and securing for it a fund of £50,000. He was himself one of a group of donors who each gave £5,000. With this fund the historic building on the Strand, long known as "Exeter Hall," was secured and furnished with an equipment more complete than any British Association had yet obtained. The entire fourfold •p. 183. FEATURES OP GROWTH AND COOPERATION 219 work was not accommodated in it, but it registered a long advance in the development of Association work in London. As one examined the list of generous promoters of this new departure, it was evident that the enlistment of many of them had been due to their previous interest in the remarkable evan- gelistic work of Moody and Sankey. The influence of this work was still so powerfully felt, that in the following year (1882) this group of fellow workers were successful in securing a re- turn of Moody to Great Britain for a second tour of evan- gelistic eflfort. To this Conference the Committee appointed by its predeces- sor, and later known as the World's Committee, made its first report, containing an encouraging account of successful eflfort to secure a General Secretary. A good beginning had been made of a work of correspondence and visitation. For the first time a Committee was appointed by the Conference to consider the report upon a work which had been authorized by a pre- ceding Conference. The leading and guiding member of that Committee was a North American delegate, Robert McBumey. It was the beginning of an invaluable service, to which he was reappointed by every succeeding World's Conference as long as he lived. Fifteen years before this in the American Inter- national Convention, he had been the proposer and chairman of the first committee that Convention appointed to report upon its Committee's report. The North American delegation of seventy-five was nearly double the size of its predecessor at Geneva three years before. The reception in London, then accorded us en route, had been very cordial, but now we were conference guests and our stay was much longer. More than ever before, or since, the Con- ference was composed of English speaking delegates, our own delegation and that of Great Britain constituting nearly six- sevenths of those in attendance. While the American papers and addresses reported a prog- ress of the whole work on our side of the Atlantic, including growth in the Student and Railroad Departments, chief empha- sis was placed by them on the growth of the supervisory agen- cies. Seconding this emphasis Thomas Cree spoke for the In- ternational and Samuel A. Taggart, of Pennsylvania, and George A. Hall, of New York, for the State supervision. There 220 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN were then twenty-one such supervisory Secretaries at work in North America. The practical impression made on the floor of the Conference was so urgent that under suggestion from the President, George Williams, and led by him, contributions amounting to £700 were offered toward providing a similar national supervision for the British Associations. As a result during the following year the English National Council was formed and William H. Mills was chosen National Secretary, in which offtee he served acceptably until his death in 1910. Under his leadership the work of this Council was developed and a British Committee was constituted, so related to the Associations of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, as to arrange for British Conferences and "to transact all business which concerns the British Associations as a whole." Cordial hospitality and entertainment were offered to the delegates. One evening the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress re- ceived us formally at the Mansion House, supported by Lord Shaftesbury. After a formal introduction the delegates passed into the Egyptian Hall, where addresses of welcome were re- sponded to on behalf of the delegates, and I was asked to speak for the American and Canadian section. Then parlors and hall were thrown open for social intercourse, the dignitaries present showing a cordial courtesy. The excursion day of the Confer- ence was spent at the country seat of Hon. Samuel Morley. In a visit to the House of Commons a small group of delegates were introduced by Shipton to Sir John Kennaway, who for many years had been a member of the House of Commons. Eecently he had made a tour through the United States and published a volume upon his transatlantic travels. At his in- vitation a few of us were the guests of Lady Kennaway and himself at Escot, his estate of some five thousand acres, beau- tifully situated near Exeter and the scene upon which Thack- eray placed many incidents of his story of Pendennis. We tarried over Sunday, attending service in the little chapel where the people living or employed on the estate worshiped. In subsequent visits to London Sir John's continued courtesy was cordially appreciated. The World Conference of 1884 Between the Conference at London in 1881 and that at Berlin FEATURES OP GROWTH AND COOPERATION 221 in 1884, there was formed in the latter city as already men- tioned,2 the Christlicher Verein Junger Manner, which was the youthful host of the Berlin Conference. Among the forty-six American delegates was General O. O. Howard, under whose command in the Civil War Frederick von Schluembach, an- other American delegate, had served. The attendance from Germany and other continental countries greatly out-num- bered those speaking English. We were gracefully welcomed in three languages by Count Bernstoflf. The object lesson of the broad, well organized work of the Berlin Association made a deep impression upon the delegates from all lands. Over one hundred more Associations were represented by delegates than at any previous World's Conference. In this capital city they were received and enter- tained by an Association occupying a large building on a principal thoroughfare, with a broader and more diversified Association work for young men than was at that time to be found in any other city of the continent. It was only a year old and was on the way to acquire, in a few years, a building of its own, valued at a million marks ($250,000). Its Presi- dent and his associates were men of rank and influence, inter- ested in Christian work for men of all classes in the com- munity. Its General Secretary, Christian Phildius, was a Christian worker and leader of rare capacity. After he had taken me through the Association building, and explained the varied work carried on in it, we returned to his oflQce, where I expressed surprise at what we had seen. In reply he pulled out a small drawer in his desk which contained copies of our secretarial pamphlets, setting forth the nature and methods of our work and of the General Secretary's responsible rela- tion to both work and workers. These had made him ac- quainted with the work which he had sought to develop. Be- fore we left Berlin, Phildius accepted an invitation to come to America, as the guest of our Secretaries, to attend the Con- vention and the Secretaries' Conference of the following year (1885). The Conference had been invited to Berlin under the wise leadership of the World's Committee. This Committee in its second triennial report stated that for the six years of its sPp. 183,200. 222 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN service it had been making "a rapid tour of exploration through many lands," including the United States and Canada, and "now we must take up certain countries one after another with patience, until a National Committee is formed in each of these countries. Extension has been the program. Con- centration must now be emphasized." This change was ap- proved by the Conference through the report of its delegates' committee, on which McBurney served. The Conference also instructed its Committee to hold, dur- ing intervals between Conferences, as full a meeting as possible of the entire membership of the World's Committee, and to secure, if practicable, a second Secretary as an associate of Fermaud. Such an associate, American experience suggested, should be a man who had had experience in City Association work. In the year following the London and Berlin Conferences, as already mentioned, the Association Secretaries of the two cities, E. J. Kennedy and Christian Phildius, were guests of our Secretaries' Conferences at Chattanooga and of the Inter- national Convention at Atlanta. Tourist Experiences This was my first trip abroad with Mrs. Morse. It was the beginning of a series of journeys together to many lands and in many parts of the world. This tour included visits to Lon- don, Paris, Dresden, Berlin, Brussels, Antwerp, Cologne, up the Rhine, Weisbaden, Heidelberg, Wittenberg, Nuremberg, and Munich. At Wittenberg we attended service in the church to the doors of which Luther nailed his theses, and near the spot where he burned the Pope's bull. This summer a bill extending the franchise in Great Britain and introduced into the House of Commons by the premier, William E. Gladstone, had been passed by that House, and during our stay in London it was to be voted upon, and un- doubtedly rejected by the House of Lords, under the leadership of the Marquis of Salisbury. An opportunity to witness a large and exciting session of this Upper House was gladly im- proved.^ ^Extract from a family letter. FEATURES OF GROWTH AND COOPERATION 223 "The house was crowded with peers, an unusual event we were told. Some from the country who had been summoned, were certainly in rustic costumes. Early in the session the Prince of Wales, afterward King Edward VII, entered and was joined by the Duke of Cambridge upon the cross benches assigned to the royal family. Lord Wemyss made, for the Government, the motion toward conciliation and concert of action with the Commons. This was favored by the Earl of Shaftesbury, Duke of Somerset, and Earl of Aberdeen and opposed by the Duke of Norfolk and Earls Cadogan and Dun- raven. Then the Marquis of Salisbury rose to give the finish- ing blow. The House had grown thin, but now members began crowding in from the lobbies. The benches where the Con- servatives were seated soon overflowed, and the space above the throne was packed. Salisbury's speech was a severe and harsh arraignment of Gladstone and the Liberals. Earl Gran- ville, the leader of the Liberals in the upper House, and of the Government, then rose to say a last word for the ministry, and for accord with the Commons. It was a plucky speech. Facing Salisbury and his enormous majority, he told him frankly that he was not really in favor of extending the franchise, as he had just professed to be. He said this so plainly and positively that from the whole crowd of the opposi- tion came an indignant protest, as they cried out : 'Withdraw, withdraw.' The Earl sat down until they were quiet, and then undauntedly refused to withdraw, and gave such reasons for refusal that now no voice of protest was heard. Then he pro- ceeded, facing the Prince of Wales and the opposition, to ex- press his high valuation of the House of Peers, and his con- viction that it could easily preserve the respect of the English people, but that it could as easily, under unwise leadership, lose their respect and with it, all opportunity for the good influence it might exert. It was very impressive to hear such words in such a presence. The division followed, the two parallel lines of voters in the act of voting passing out on opposite sides of the House. The opposition had a majority of fifty, not a very large one. All the bishops, in their robes, with the Archbishop of Canterbury, lined up and passed out with the minority, the only exception being the Bishop of Gloucester, the scholarly Dr. EUicott. A few days afterward our friend Sir John Kennaway invited us to a breakfast at his home in London. He and another mem- ber discussed with us the recent action of the Peers and some interesting inquiries were made leading to comparisons be- tween the composition, character, and constitutional standing of the British Upper House and the United States Senate. These comparisons seemed to me to be somewhat to the credit of our Upper House. 224 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Later that day, Sir John took us through the Carlton Club and the Athenaeum, the latter the resort of literary and pro- fessional men. In the beautiful library of the Atheuseum we were introduced to Bishop Ellicott, who was both cordial and jocose. When I alluded to the recent discussion in the House of Peers, he referred to his being the only bishop who voted with the majority and added : 'When we were passing out, one of the peers in advance of me, glancing at the flock of bishops going out on the other side said, "There go all the sheep on that side, so I suppose we are to be counted as goats." "No, my Lord," I said, "here is one poor lost sheep going out with you !" ' As we parted I thanked him for the benefit which, as a semi- nary student, I had derived from the study of his excellent commentaries. Sir John then took us to the House of Lords, where we were introduced to the Earl of Shaftesbury, who pointed out to us some of the more interesting pictures in various rooms. In the library of the House we met the librarian, who, at the Earl's suggestion, showed to us the death warrant of King Charles I. It was quite a small document carefully framed, and was taken from the drawer where it is kept. On it were the sig- natures of Cromwell, Ireton, GoflE, Whalley, Dixwell, and the other judges or 'regicides,' as they have been termed by way of a distinction, which some have thought honorable and others have deemed discreditable. In the evening we dined with Mr. and Mrs. George Williams — a delightful experience of English home life." The Topic Party 1876-1891 A quiet agency of unobtrusive but strong and wide influence existed for over fifteen years, between 1876 and 1891, under the name of "The Topic Party." Each year it occupied, delight- fully as well as profitably, a week or more of the time of those who had the privilege of belonging to it. In the New York Association building, from the time of its occupation by the Association in December, 1869, one daily and two mid-week prayer meetings were held. One of the many joint labors in which, from the beginning, McBurney and I were engaged, was the preparation of a leaflet contain- ing fifty-two topics for the Thursday evening meetings in the Twenty-third Street building. After a few years we also pre- pared a similar leaflet for the Saturday evening meetings. To prepare three hundred topics for the daily meetings was an FEATURES OF GROWTH AND COOPERATION 225 undertaking involving more time than for some years we could give, but the two sets, of fifty-two topics each, proved of such service that they emphasized the greater need of similar help for the daily meetings. These leaflets were not used by the New York Association only; they gained a growing circulation throughout the brotherhood. Pastors and churches also were using them, and increased the demand for the larger pub- lication. In the autumn of 1876 we agreed to go into retirement, in the suburbs of New York, and with a few helpers spend a week in preparing topics for three hundred daily meetings. This was the beginning of a series of annual conferences. To all of us these proved a pleasant separation from other employ- ment for a season of arduous interesting endeavor, agreeable companionship, and Bible work. The variety in places of meet- ing and in the personnel of the party added to the interest. One year we went to Bay Shore, Long Island. Another sea- son we were guests of my sister, Mrs. Samuel Colgate, in Orange, N. J., and another year of my sister, Mrs. Edward Austen, in her home on Filston Farm near Baltimore. Finally we settled on the Laurel House at Lakewood, N. J., as the place best suited in every way for our use. The members invariably present were McBumey, Eobert Orr, of Pittsburgh, who was preeminent in Bible Class work, and myself ; the others varied from year to year. Among these were a few ladies, who were of great assistance in the work. These included Mrs. Morse, my sister Rebecca, her friend Miss Kate Sturges, and Mrs. Morse's mother and sister. Among the Secretaries more or less regularly in attendance were Thomas Cree — always welcome, not only for the hard work that he did, but even more because of the brightness and humor that he contributed. Eobert McBumey was called, and was in fact the "Boss" of the party. He ruled us in a masterly way, beginning and closing each of the three daily sessions on time, insisting on morning and afternoon walks for exercise, assigning the topics to the different pairs of workers, and in every way showing himself to be an autocrat ! During the year, the members of the party were on the look- out for good subjects or topics which could be "worked up." 226 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN The various books of the Bible were assigned each year to some forty or fifty well selected Bible students, with a request that each read the portion assigned him, make note of the para- graphs most appropriate for use in a prayer meeting, state a subject for each paragraph in the form of a topic, and send it to the International office. At the outset each year the party was divided into pairs of workers and the topics secured were distributed among these pairs. Robert Orr and I were invariably assigned to work together. Some topics were so good they were accepted without change, others were rejected, and still others so revised that they were beyond recognition by their authors. After each topic pamphlet was printed, it was often difflcult in the following year to persuade some good Bible student, whose topics had been thus treated, to try again! As each pair of workers finished with a set of topics, these were turned over to McBurney to be accepted. This he often failed to do ! A trunkful of concordances, various trans- lations of the Bible, and other helps was taken for the use of the workers. Each topic was based upon one or more passages from the Bible, and it was necessary to avoid too much repetition of favorite passages. As a valuable help in this direction, Mrs. Morse secured a Bible of good size and large type. This was rebound in two volumes and fully interleaved. On its pages, with the help of her sister, she marked in red ink, when and where the verses so indicated already had been made use of in topics. This marked Bible was taken to the next meeting, and whenever a verse was again used, note of it was made in the Book. These two volumes thus annotated quickly gave the knowledge of what portions from year to year had not been used, ^s well as of those most frequently, or too frequently selected. This helped to secure additional variety in the choice of Bible paragraphs. The members of "The Topic Party" never tired of telling of the pleasant, profitable, and amusing incidents, and the good time generally, that they enjoyed to- gether during these strenuous days of retirement. For twenty-two years successive Conventions — 1877-1893 — voted their thanks, and authorized the continued publication of these topics. Meanwhile gradually so many other similar sets of topics were being published that the Committee and the FEATURES OF GROWTH AND COOPERATION 227 Convention deemed it unnecessary to continue the preparation and issuance of the pamphlet. One unfailing incident of the "Topic Party" is worthy of special mention. The Secretary-Treasurer of the Secretaries' Conference invariably accepted an invitation to join the party, not only as a worker but also* because he there secured the time needed for consultation as to the program for the next meeting of the conference. These consultations with members of each "Topic Party" thus gave a strong shaping influence to the topics and program of each succeeding annual meeting of the Secretaries' Association. Connection with the Young Women's Christian Association 1879-1883 Soon after becoming connected with the International Com- mittee, my attention was first called to the Young Women's Christian Association of the city, by learning that while our Association had been given an ample building by generous friends, the Association of young women was poorly accom- modated in a small building which they had rented on Irving Place. McBumey, James Stokes, Morris K. Jesup, and other directors of our city Association were members of an Advisory Committee of this organization. With their cooperation a movement was soon begun on behalf of the young women, which resulted in securing for them an excellent building on West Fifteenth Street. To complete the equipment thus begun, they needed to erect in the rear of the structure a commodious hall. In aid of this undertaking a Fair was opened during May, 1876, in the spacious Academy of Music. By the exertion and cooperation of many friends this proved successful. I was glad to comply with the request of the president, and edit a paper — The May- flower — for circulation at the Fair as the best service it was in my power to render the cause at this time. The first of the City Young Women's Christian Associations was formed in Boston in 1866. The movement was gradually extended to other cities, usually bearing the name of Women's Christian Associations. Of our own leaders, the one most actively identified with the work and extension of these kindred societies was Thane Miller, of Cincinnati. He had suggested 228 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN and taken part in the organization of several in western cities, and Mrs. Miller was a leader in the organization in Cincinnati, and also in their Convention, where Mr. Miller had been a warmly welcomed guest. He had become convinced that it would be of value and benefit to them to appoint and locate a Central Committee, corresponding to our own International Committee, with an employed officer giving her whole time to the work of supervision and extension. On his way to their Convention of 1875, which was to meet in Pittsburgh, he stopped at our office in New York and en- listed the sympathy of McBurney and myself. He asked for our cooperation and, as a member of our Committee, urged that I be allowed to go on with him to Pittsburgh to make a statement to the delegates of the advantages resulting to our brotherhood from the work of our Committee. He believed such cooperation would be welcomed and his own experience seeming to justify this expectation, the Committee consented to my going. On our way we met in the train and took counsel with one of the delegates, Mrs. Terhune, then President of the Newark, N. J., Association and widely known as an author under the name of Marion Harland. The suggestion of Mr. Miller seemed to her an excellent one. I was present only at the opening session, where I made as good a plea as I could, leaving Mr. Miller to complete our errand. But he was disappointed in accomplishing his purpose, and we learned afterward that, for reasons we did not conjecture and were not forewarned about, the proposal was premature and unacceptable. Some years afterward I began to be more helpful to this sisterhood, through the agency of my younger sister. Family Ties and a Family Letter League We were a family of ten children, nine of whom at this time were living. Four sisters, older than I, were married and in homes of their own. One of my three brothers was older and two were younger than myself, as was the youngest sister Rebecca. In 1881, at the suggestion of my youngest brother, Oliver, then General Secretary of the Cleveland Association, we formed a family monthly letter league, of which he became, and ever FEATURES OF GROWTH AND COOPERATION 229 since has continued the efficient secretary. Each member of the family wrote a letter at the beginning of each month and these were passed around to all by a circulating arrangement. The league has continued, without a break, for thirty-six years, proving an excellent bond of family fellowship. As the older brother and two older sisters have passed away, their places in the league have been taken by wife or husband or sons, who continue to represent each his or her branch of the family. For the first twenty years the secretary was the faithful custodian of these letters, after they had been passed round the circle, and at the end of this period he returned them to their respective writers. Upon binding mine in a volume they proved so useful, that ever since I have found it worth while to preserve and bind those of succeeding years, and in writing this narrative they have been of great service. Rebecca Finley Morse Between my sister Rebecca, two years younger than I, and myself, there was from our childhood a peculiarly strong sym- pathy. From the beginning of my connection with religious journalism and later with the Association and the Interna- tional Committee, more than any other member of the family she seemed to enter into and appreciate the considerations that had weighed with me in each successive decision and in the final conclusion concerning the General Secretaryship. Her active interest in Christian work began with faithful service as a Sunday school Bible teacher of exceptional ability, leading the members of her class one by one into the Christian life and Church. In connection with the Moody Hippodrome meetings in New York in 1876, at the Northfield General Conferences called together by Moody from 1877 to 1885, in the gospel temperance work growing out of Moody's work in New York, and in theater and Cooper Institute meetings we were fellow workers in the inquiry room. In 1878 she accompanied me to Geneva, Switzerland, where the World's Conference of that year was held, and there she tarried with one of our nieces for the following year. Soon after her return, her plans had matured to transfer her resi- dence from the home of one of her sisters in Orange, N. J., to New York, where with an elder friend and associate in 230 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Christian work — Miss Katherine Sturges — she was ready to keep house for me. Here in the city she could be useful in the forms of Christian work in which she was most interested, and with some of which my fellow workers in the New York Association and I were identified. In this home, very near the Association building we passed four years — 1879-1884 — the last year being the first of my married life. My sister soon joined a group of Working Girls' Clubs located in various parts of the city. Miss Grace H. Dodge was the leader in this organization. Some religious work was carried on in connection with each group, according to the disposition of its leader. My sister formed one of these clubs in the city below Fourteenth Street, and became deeply in- terested in the working girls with whom she became helpfully acquainted. When disastrous fires in Michigan created a calamitous situation of great suffering, she was actively connected with the movement for the relief of the sufferers, and, on behalf of the friends who were interested, went out to that state and visited the most needy district to aid in administering the support and help that had been offered. Gradually the work of the Young Women's Christian Asso- ciation began to enlist her sympathy and cooperation, beyond any other form of Christian effort with which she was identified. The Associations then bearing the name were not all united in one organization and fellowship. The older group was not upon the same basis of membership as the younger group, which had begun as Student Associations in coeducational col- leges and universities, and in such relation to the Young Men's Christian Association in these institutions that they had adopted the evangelical church test of membership. It was with this latter group that my sister became identified, as it ex- tended its organization and work into cities where working girls became a strong element in the membership. Of the City Association formed in Harlem in 1891, she was one of the organizers. As the work developed and a New York State Convention was formed, she was chosen chairman of its State Committee. In the National Convention and its Com- mittee, and later in the World's Conference and its Committee, especially in its foreign work, she was an active leader. It FEATURES OF GROWTH AND COOPERATION 231 was through her agency as an American member of the World's Committee, that the first Young Women's Christian Associa- tion Secretaries were sent out to the foreign mission field. For their support, from the beginning, she became responsible, and her memory is gratefully cherished among the workers on that field. In the history of the Movement recently published* it is said of her: "Up to that time (1899) she had been in herself the whole foreign department, but now she was to associate other ladies with her to help in securing, equipping, and main- taining American Secretaries whom the World's Association would appoint to the various fields. Miss Morse's own best remembered presentation was at the Nashville Convention of 1901 when she closed an address crammed with information with this inquiry : 'If our Association fills a place of need here, as a part of church work which cannot be done within church walls, if it is needed to develop a Christian womanhood in this Christian land, to convict nominal Christian women, and awaken them to their responsibility for their sisters here, what shall we say of the need of the women in India and China? Is there less need of the Association work for them ?' She held in her hand that day the document signed by women of every influential class in the city of Shanghai begging the American Committee for an Association there. Miss Morse's memorial stands in Lahore, India, where Morse Hall houses a good general work, a fine educational department, and an ample dormitory." Our sympathy with one another deepened during these many years of active interest in a growing work, the methods and problems of which, both at home and abroad, were closely allied. She took an active part in protracted effort by the leaders of both branches of the Young Women's Movement to promote^ the union of both which they ardently desired. During these efforts she wrote a history of the Young Women's Movement, with which she was identified. She did not live to see the union finally and happily achieved through the strong, com- manding leadership of her friend Miss Grace Dodge, for her < "Fifty Years of Association Work among Young Women," pp. 188-9. « Pp. 459-60. 232 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN life on earth closed in September, 1903, three years before the union was consummated for which she had so earnestly prayed and labored. Her memory is cherished throughout the sister- hood, and the inspiration of her example as a Christian leader and worker has been widely felt among them. CHAPTER XII WORLD'S COMMITTEE AND CONFERENCES World's Committee Meeting op 1886 The World's Conference of 1884 voted to make the interval between its meetings four years, .and instructed its Committee at Geneva to hold, during this interval, a meeting of all its members. The Committee was also instructed to concentrate attention on selected portions of the broad field its visitation had hitherto covered. Upon this concentration the Committee was to deliberate at its "plenar" or full meeting, at Geneva in August, .1886. I had not expected to cross the Atlantic until the Conference of 1888. But the solicitation for my attendance became very urgent and it was intimated that if I would promise to make the journey, it would insure the presence of George Williams. The expense of the tour seemed prohibitive, for none of my transatlantic trips hitherto had been made at the expense of the Committee's treasury. When a final appeal came by cablegram from Geneva, McBurney's interest was aroused by the urgency manifested. He had served on the World's Conference Com- mittee at Berlin which recommended the holding of this "plenar" meeting, and to make my going practicable he secured a fund for the purpose. There was another reason which made me very unwilling to be away at this time. The journey would compel my leaving the Mt. Hermon Student Conference at the close of its first week. This regret was emphasized after- ward when I learned of the Student Volunteer interest awak- ened during the closing weeks of that conference. One com- mission, however, which formed a part of my errand, in the future years bore an interesting relation to that development of the Mt. Hermon meeting. A Forerunner On the Foreign Field of the Student Volunteer Movement No member of the International Committee had shown so 233 234 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN much interest in Association work in Europe, and especially in the Latin countries, as James Stokes, a member of the Com- mittee from its first appointment in 1866. As early as 1868 he had made a tour among the Associations of Europe, and on his return presented a full report of this work of pioneer visitation to the International Convention of 1869. To the work of the World's Committee, from its origin in 1878 at Geneva, he was an annual contributor. He had inherited from his father this interest in Christian work on the continent, especially in France. Among other good uses to which he was appropriating the fortune he had recently inherited, he in- cluded, with a special emphasis. Association work in Prance, beginning with Paris. He authorized me on this journey to make inquiry in that city concerning the Association, and its Secretary, Mr. Vander Beken, who was also a worker in the McCall Mission. I was to arrange for this Secretary to come as Mr. Stokes's guest to the American Associations for a six months' visit, including a term of study at the Training School in Springfield. As a result of my visit to Paris, "Vander Beken accepted the invitation extended to him. Additional help now came from Mr. Stokes. Owing wholly to his own faith and persevering search, he found in New York City, at our very doors, a person who had not been discovered by the Secretarial Bureau — Franklin Gay- lord. He was a graduate of Yale in 1877, and a Christian worker, with theological seminary training. But his essential qualification, not possessed by any Association Secretary of rank on our roll, and giving distinction to Mr. Stokes' discovery of him, was his excellent command of the French language. This he had acquired by a residence in Paris, during which he had been active in the management and work of the American Chapel in that city. In that church, for many years, members of the Stokes family had been interested, and from one of its former pastors had come to Mr. Stokes the timely suggestion of Mr. Gaylord as a candidate of promise for the work in Paris. Vander Beken during his stay in America met Gay- lord and became eager for his help. Through the generous provision of Mr. Stokes, Gaylord was willing, for a time at least, to become the helper needed in the work of the Associa- tion in Paris. A better location for rooms was essential to WORLD'S COMMITTEE AND CONFERENCES 235 success and toward this Mr. Stokes was willing to give ad- ditional help. Gaylord began work in Paris in 1887 and it was soon seen by Mr. Stokes, that temporary help from one who had had longer experience in Association work would be of great value to both Gaylord and Vander Beken. This help he urged me to give, asking me to go to Paris for that purpose. To such an absence abroad on my part the Committee would not consent, so the appeal was transferred to Thomas Cree. The Committee yielded to this second choice, but Cree seriously hesitated. Without any knowledge of the French language, a stranger and a foreigner, he was naturally distrustful of his ability to justify the expense involved. It certainly seemed venturesome to himself and his counselors; but again Mr. Stokes' wise persistency prevailed, and Cree joined Gaylord in Paris. The two American workers proved to be a rarely effective combination. They commanded such a sympathetic cooperation from donors in Paris as never be- fore had been realized in that city. The annual budget of $1,600 was increased by them to |8,000. Some well equipped rooms on the Boulevard were secured, and both Secretaries won the entire confidence of their Parisian associates. Many friends in the city were enlisted, among them an eminent and generous layman of the French Protestant Church — Alfred Andr6, a man of wealth and wide influence, and the regent of the Bank of France. For six years — 1887 to 1894 — Gaylord rendered invaluable secretarial service in Paris, doing such an excellent work that James Stokes carried out the generous purpose he had cherished from the beginning, and offered to unite with Andr6 in the erection of an Association Building in Paris in which could be accommodated the fourfold work, which was being developed beyond the capacity and equipment of the rented rooms on the Boulevard. Andr6 agreed to the proposition, and the architect made a trip to America at Mr. Stokes' expense, to study the best Association buildings yet erected. In 1894, on Eue de Trevise, a commodious Association building was dedicated. In rendering invaluable secretarial service in Paris, Gaylord developed fine qualifications for carrying to other lands the message, method, and spirit of the American Association. It seemed indeed a serious loss to the work, 236 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN when, with regret on his own part, a family emergency made it necessary for him to return to America. Happily for the work in Europe, this recall was temporary, and when in 1899 Mr. Stokes brought to him again an urgent call, to St. Petersburg,! Eussia, and opened the way for him to accept, he was able to respond, and for seventeen years — 1899-1917 — he has been duplicating for young men in St. Petersburg and Moscow what he did for young men in Paris. In the light of this interesting career of an American Secre- tary on the foreign field, it can be clearly seen that the message which in 1886 I left the Mt. Hermon Conference to carry to Paris, resulted in placing upon the foreign field, before John Swift arrived in Japan in 1888, an American Secretary who was really the first to give the best portion of his life, away from home and native land, to American Association work for young men. Many years later, in 1907, after I had visited our Secretaries and other missionaries in Asia and Africa, I spent a week in St. Petersburg,^ a guest in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Gaylord. Nowhere had I found fellow workers who seemed to me to be living in such isolation from kindred in the Church and Kingdom of our Lord, or in quite so lonely an environment as surrounded them in their unselfish service in the name of Christ to the young men of Eussia. Preparations for Geneva Meeting After this long digression I must return to the errand which called me to Geneva. A future policy of concentration by the World's Committee had been authorized by the Berlin Con- ference. Seven years before, after Charles Fermaud had finished his first tour among the American Associations, he had spoken of being impressed with the primary importance of developing (1) the local General Secretaryship, (2) agen- cies of supervision, and (3) the erection of Association build- ings. These were the features agreed upon as constituting a worthy objective for the World's Committee and its General Secretary. In the World's Conference of 1881, strong emphasis upon the work of supervision resulted in the forming of the English National Council and the British Committee. Other National Committees in Europe were also at work, In the 1 ^ince 1914 Fetrograd. WORLD'S COMMITTEE AND CONFERENCES 237 Conference of 1884, at Berlin, the local General Secretaryship, and the local work, as illustrated in the Christlicher Yerein Junger Manner and by its General Secretary, Christian Phil- dius, had made a deiep and favorable impression. Keviewing the work of the Committee, and of the European Associations, it seemed evident that what was most needed was to plant Associations in other capital cities of Europe, on the model of the one in Berlin. Committee members from Britain, Prance, Germany, Sweden, Italy, and Belgium were to be present at Geneva. What I could say about City Association Work in America would have far less weight with them, than would a vivid and detailed description of what had been done in the capital of Germany. Count BernstofE was not then a member of the Committee, but he and Phildius could be invited to come to Geneva as guests. Such an invitation was agreed to by the Committee in Geneva, and I wrote to Phildius that, if he would come, his expenses would be provided out of the fund which had been given for my journey. Mrs. Morse and I went to Geneva by way of Paris and Zurich. In the former city, we had the pleasure of being wel- comed by Mr. and Mrs. Elbert B. Monroe, who were ending in Europe their foreign mission tour round the world. I was able to report to them the progress toward completion of Dwight Hall, the Student Association building which they were erecting on the Yale campus, and which was to be dedicated in October. They reported to us, among other interesting events of their tour, the reception given to them in Osaka, Japan, in the Association building, to which they had so gen- erously contributed.2 At Zurich, where we tarried over night, quite unexpectedly we met Charles Fermaud on his way to Geneva. He told us of the Zurich Association, and its desire for a General Secretary, and also of an excellent Swiss can- didate for the position. Unfortunately the money for the first year's salary could not be secured by the excellent group of workers in that city, who were ready in every other way to support the work and to cooperate efficiently with a Secretary. The worthy President of the Zurich Association, Mr. Eiden- benz, I had met at Geneva in 1878. This seemed to me a strategic opportunity to plant a city secretary. At breakfast « Pp. 333-6. 238 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN in the hotel the following morning, who should appear but John Wanamaker, who was abroad on business errands. Telling him of the secretarial message we were taking to Geneva, and also the story of the Zurich work, I asked him if he would be responsible for the first year's salary of a Zurich Secretary, and at the same time, in this way, patriotically fortify the American message I was carrying to our World's Committee? He consented, and so before reaching Geneva, to a secretarial message was added provision for a Swiss City Secretary. Sessions at Geneva A yet stronger appeal came from Berlin in the persons of Count Bernstoff and Christian Phildius. The Committee spent three days — Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday — in interesting sessions in the villas of two friends of the work, while the fourth and intervening day, Sunday, August 22nd, was spent at Lausanne. The work of the Committee and the needs of its field were thoroughly discussed. The importance of con- centration on the establishment of strong City Associations was agreed to. What this meant was very vividly and im- pressively set forth by Count BernstoflE and Christian Phildius in a description of the work in Berlin. At Lausanne on Sunday we met 200 young men, delegates from the Associations in Switzerland, to whom this message was forcibly given. One evening in Geneva there was a notable gathering — small but select — including Christian citizens of influence. The strongest presentation of the main theme of the Conference was given on this occasion. One Protestant capital of Europe was speak- ing to another of its class, in terms of convincing persuasion. Strong assurance was given me that the impression made meant a welcome reenforcement for the work in Geneva, and an Association veteran of that city — Max Perrot — assured me that an Association building for Geneva would be the ultimate result. Naturally the need of providing training for General Secre- taries was emphasized, and Phildius reported what was being accomplished on this line in Berlin, where candidates from and for other cities had sought and found training. The im- portance of promoting meetings of General Secretaries, and the benefits derived from useful discussion at these meetings WORLD'S COMMITTEE AND CONFERENCES 239 were also presented. In this connection the report of the Training School recently established in Springfield excited comment and inquiry. One immediate result was the rental by the Geneva Association of a new and superior suite of rooms and the employment of a Secretary. Also a movement toward a building began soon after, and in 1894— the same year in which the Paris building was dedicated— the Geneva Associa- tion rejoiced in occupying a home of its own. An interesting feature of this visit to Geneva was delightful fellowship witb the family of George Williams, whose wife and only daughter and youngest son were with him. It was Miss Helen's first trip abroad, and her fresh delight in every- thing she saw was very contagious. Her sweet unselfish character and her ladylike bearing were very winning. Not many years after this her parents were called on to part with her, and while they bore their loss with beautiful Christian resignation, it was a lifelong bereavement. World's Conference of 1888 at Stockholm The Journey to Stockholm The holding of the World's Conference of 1888 in the capital of Sweden was due to an enterprising visit of Secretary Fermaud to that city, and the enlistment of King Oscar in the invitation which came from the Stockholm Association. The three preceding conferences had been held in the capital cities of Switzerland, Great Britain, and Germany. None of the ten conferences, since the first in 1855 at Paris, had met in Scandinavia. Attendance by delegates outside of the country where we met was large beyond precedent. From Britain and Australia came 132 and 56 from North America. Of this large English speaking delegation 103 had come to Norway in one steamer from Leith. In some family letters of the period I find the following description of our experiences as members of that party : "August 3rd in the good Norwegian steamer Sirius, the dele- gates from Britain and North America embarked at Leith for an eight day trip through the fiords and mountains of Western Norway. . . . One day we spent at Bergen, reputed to be the most enterprising city and port in Norway, and owning more shipping than any other city of its size in the world. 240 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN The young men had arranged to lay the corner stone of their new Association building during our one day there and a most cordial reception with a feste was given us in their large public hall. At Trondjhem we left the steamer, with regret, and boarded a commodious train of comfortable cars connected with one another, American fashion. Many of the delegates had never before seen a train of this kind, and to the younger ones it was a source of unbroken delight to pass back and forth from one end of the train to the other ! . . . This train, granted for our use, all the way to Stockholm, by the Government-Management of the Railroads, had been used by the Prince of Wales and his party during a visit by him several years ago. As on the former occasion, the train had been advertised all along the route, with mention of the stations at which it would stop for a few minutes. People came for miles to see it, and at each stop we were welcomed to the platform and after singing by the delegates one of the party made a short address, which was interpreted by a Swedish-American citizen who was also a delegate. The people everywhere treated us most courteously. We arrived at Oostersund at 10:30 p. m. Saturday by day- light ! Upon each delegate a large printed number was placed, for we were billeted for the week end all over the town in the homes of the people. These numbers introduced us to our hosts, in an arithmetical language understood both by them and their guests. Sunday morning the entire party took breakfast together at a central hall, and then were led into the largest auditorium in the place where between 1,000 and 2,000 people had gathered for service. Delegates from England, Scotland, Australia, and America spoke, and were interpreted, the audience patiently listening for two and a half hours. As I looked into the strong, attractive, patient faces, I thought that possibly our Anglo-Saxon ancestors had had too much, and our Nor(th) man blood too little credit for what held the earth-works on Bunker Hill, and gave their strength to the British squares at Waterloo, and the thin red line at Balaklava ! Dinner at 3:30, an open air meeting in a grove with many hundreds of people, a young men's meeting, an e>'ening meeting in the crowded hall and finally supper — all brought us into closer sympathy with the people who had done so much to make us comfortable. The experiences of Saturday were repeated on Monday all along the route, and we were told that no special train had ever received quite such a people's welcome as was given to us. In many ways we have been made to feel that our reli- gious errand and Christian work are the cause of the ovation we continue to receive. Last night we spent in Bolnas, wel- WORLD'S COMMITTEE AND CONFERENCES 241 corned at the hotel, and later in the cathedral church by the venerable kindly Pastor. ... A glimpse of Upsala and its noble university buildings and library, we gained in a few hours with a student of theology as our guide, and arrived at Stockholm that night. On the day after the conference, August 20th, a royal recep- tion was given us at the suburban palace of the King, the Crown Prince [now King Gustaf], representing his Father. He first met the oflflcers of the Conference and the ladies of the party in the grand Salon, greeting us one by one, and making a pleasant remark to each. At the luncheon, and later, on the terrace he engaged in pleasant informal talk with delegates. He was aflfable and unaffected and impressed every one of us with his genuine manly dignity, and his genial cour- tesy. . . . Among the ladies of the Court who assisted in receiving the guests we were glad to meet several of American birth who had married members of the nobility." The Conference Proceedings Prominent in the report of the World's Committee was the confession of its ineffectual endeavor, from lack of resources in men and money, to send to the foreign mission field the Association workers whom missionaries on that field had urgently solicited from the Committee. In this emergency they had gladly accepted from the International Committee the offer of Wishard,^ to act as a World's Committee's Secretary in the visitation of this field, without any tax on the treasury at Geneva. The delegates at Stockholm listened to Wishard's presentation of his errand and message, and heartily ratified the action of their Committee. Each World's Conference receives nominations of members to constitute its Committee. These nominations are received at Geneva from the different National and International Com- mittees and are usually renominations of those already mem- bers. In this way my own membership had been continued since 1878. The time had arrived, in my opinion, to elect to this position one who was not an employed oflftcer. And the unprecedented interest Mr. Stokes was taking in the work seemed to point strongly to him as the most fitting and best fitted member of the International Committee to be nominated to the Stockholm Conference. Accordingly his name was pre- sented to the Delegates' Committee. »Pp. 369, 370. 242 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN In reporting this and other nominations, the Committee for the first time added the names of two honorary Secretaries, one from Great Britain — National Secretary W. H. Mills — and the other from North America — the International General Secretary. Mr. Mills continued in office until his death in 1912. I was continued until 1913, when the Conference of that year at Edinburgh elected me for life, and for a similar period elected Charles Fermaud, who had a few months before re- signed his oflSce as General Secretary of the Committee, which he had held since 1878. The World's Conference at Stockholm caused a new depart- ure in the Association work of that city. For the purpose of the Conference and its entertainment a student of Upsala Uni- versity — Karl Fries — ^had become temporarily the Secretary of the Stockholm Association. The service he rendered at the Conference, and the impression of the work which he had re- ceived, led to his permanent continuance in office. He visited Berlin and gained acquaintance with the work of Phildius. Some years later — in 1893 — he visited North America, attend- ing the Northfield Conference, and receiving hearty welcome in the leading American Associations, as the secretarial leader of the work in Scandinavia. When the first meeting of the World's Student Christian Federation was held in the Castle of Vadstena in 1895, Karl Fries was chosen President of the Federation, a position of world student leadership to which ever since he has been reelected. The Stockholm Conference, at the request of the British delegation, instructed the World's Committee to call the next meeting in 1891, after an interval of three years, in order that — if it should seem desirable to that Conference — the follow- ing meeting might be held in London in 1894. the jubilee year of the parent Association in that city. The World's Committee was also instructed at Stockholm to submit to the next Conference, at Amsterdam, carefully drawn rules of procedure for future Conferences. These rules were subsequently drawn up by Thomas K. Cree, who had attended every Conference since and including that of 1878. They incor- porated, substantially, the main features of the Standing Eules of the American International Convention modified by the experience of the World Conferences. In accord with precedent WORLD'S COMMITTEE AND CONFERENCES 243 hitherto it was provided that to the Delegates' Committee, com- posed of a member from each country represented in the Conference, should be given the responsible work of receiving, digesting, and reporting, with recommendations, the Report of the World's Committee. Action on this report was the im- portant deliberative act of each Conference. Each member of this Delegates' Committee, while nominated by the group of delegates from his own country, was also sug- gested by and representative of the National Committee of that country. Practically to these Committees, as to our own International Committee, was entrusted the accrediting of delegates to each World's Conference, each country being en- titled to one delegate for every five of the Associations it con- tained. The variety existing in Association work around the world, the widely differing size of the delegations from each country, and the almost exclusive relation of the World's Com- mittee to these National Committees rather than to the local Associations, tended to make the World's Conference an agency responsible to these National Committees as its constituency. With the development of these features of the Conference, since the creation of its Committee in 1878, Thomas Cree was thoroughly familiar. Not only had he attended the last four Conferences, but his vigilance had been a strong factor in the management of each. The rules as drafted by him reflected correctly the practice of the Conferences of 1881, 1884, and 1888 and were accepted by the World's Committee for report to the next Conference. The World's Conference of 1891 The new rules as submitted by the Committee were adopted. With cordial unanimity it was voted to accept the invitation from London, to hold the next Conference in 1894 in that city, as a significant celebration of the Jubilee of the founding in 1844 of the parent English speaking Association. For Mrs. Morse, McBurney, and myself, the recreation and pleasure of this transatlantic journey were enhanced by the company of Mrs. Morse's mother and her father, the Hon. Joshua M. Van Cott, of Brooklyn, New York. We spent twelve days together in London, and on our way to Amsterdam I made a second visit to the field of Waterloo in the helpful company 244 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN of Mr. "Van Cott. In the interval of twenty-four years between the two visits, I had spent a day upon the field of Gettysburg — the scene of another decisive battle in the world's history. The strong contrast between the dimensions of the two fields and the duration of the contest in each instance, was especially interesting. Two other welcome companions joined us before we reached Amsterdam — Mr. and Mrs. Luther D. Wishard. Ever since the Stockholm Conference he had been on his foreign mission- ary journey around the world, and now on his way home was bringing to the Conference of 1891 a cheering report of the welcome accorded to the Association — especially to its Student Department — throughout the foreign mission field, by the mis- sionaries of the churches from all the Christian countries. Our party, increased by the company of John R. Mott, were good listeners to the many interesting stories they had to tell of the wonderful blessings granted to both of them throughout their long journey, by land and sea. We journeyed together to Helder and spent a day pleasantly at this extreme pro- montory of North Holland, exposed more than any part of this coast to the violence of wind and wave from which the town is fully protected by the huge and massive Helder Dyke, five miles in length, twelve feet in width, and descending 200 feet into the sea. The highest tide never reaches the summit. The Jubilee World's Conference at London, June, 1894 The Thirteenth World's Conference, as voted by its two pre- decessors, met in London so as to be in session in the year and on the day (June 6, 1894) which commemorated the founding in that world capital of the parent English speaking Associa- tion. Over 2,000 delegates from a brotherhood now planted in 32 countries on all the continents came together to unite in a Jubilee of thanksgiving to the Giver of all good for His marvelous blessing upon a world-wide work among young men, and upon its founder, who was graciously spared to be Presi- dent and host of the Conference. The opening service was held in Westminster Abbey. For other impressive services we met in St. Paul's Cathedral, in the immense Albert Hall, and in the Mansion House. Ad- dresses were listened to from leaders among bishops and other WORLD'S COMMITTEE AND CONFERENCES 245 clergy, and from among the laity of Great Britain and other lands. From North America 173 delegates were present — an un- precedented number. Among them were 42 officers and mem- bers of the International, State, and Provincial Commitees. These included Thane Miller, Morris K. Jesup, Robert Mc- Bumey, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and James Stokes. The two first named were chosen Vice-Presidents. An American dele- gate prominent, eloquent, honored, and most heartily welcomed was Rev. Dr. Theodore L. Cuyler. Since his retirement some years before, from his pulpit and long pastorate in Brooklyn, in response to many urgent requests from his many friends among Association leaders he had been treating our Associa- tions as a continent-wide parish, responding eloquently and helpfully to their calls, as they came to him from convention, conference, anniversary, and other Association platforms. He was thoroughly at home in London, among many English friends, with none of whom he was more intimate than with Sir George Williams. As usual Mrs. Morse and I had crossed the Atlantic with Robert McBurney, little dreaming that this was to be his last World's Conference. With us also were our brother-in-law — my classmate, roommate, and lifelong friend. Rev. Dr. Henry H. Stebbins, of Rochester, N. Y. — accompanied by his wife and younger daughter, a sympathetic and congenial family party, or inner circle, within the American delegation. The Founder, Sir George Williams On arriving in London by way of Peterborough and Cam- bridge, we learned the good news that George Williams had been honored with knighthood by the Queen, also that a higher honor— the Freedom of the City of London — was to be conferred on him by the Corporation Council, in response to the plea of Alderman Dimsdale, that "this man had, for fifty years, made the welfare of the young men of London the supreme and successful endeavor of his life," and that "the citi- zen who had done this was worthy of the best that the City could give." Very promptly McBumey and I called to present our heart- iest congratulations to Sir George and Lady Williams. Later, 246 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN with Mrs. Morse, we dined with them and spent a happy eve- ning together, closing as usual with family worship, in which all the servants of the household united. During the Con- ference Mr. Jesup said to me, "The Queen has knighted George Williams for his goodness, and the act confers as much honor on the donor as on the one who has received her gift !" The ovation to George Williams as founder and as Presi- dent both of the Association and the Conference culminated on Jubilee day — June 6th — before crowded audiences in Exetei Hall in the morning and afternoon and in the much larger Al- bert Hall in the evening. Delegations from the various nations around the world presented to him in succession some token of regard and appreciation. For the American delegates Morris K. Jesup, as their Chairman, presented a handsomely illuminated address of congratulation, containing the auto- graph signatures of the members. Trustees, and Secretaries of the International Committee, and the Chairmen and Sec- retaries of the State and Provincial Committees. After the Association world had been heard from, tokens of congratulation and appreciation were presented from many Christian and civic societies, including Bible, Tract, Mission, and other philanthropic agencies, in the work of which he was ever taking a generous interest. Several remarkable addresses were made that day, in Exeter Hall, but the most eloquent speaker was Dr. Cuyler. What he said had been carefully thought out, but consisted also — so he told me — of what was unpremeditated, and given to him under the stimulus of an inspiring audience and an ex- traordinary anniversary event. The whole environment drew from the speaker one of the most powerful and impressive addresses to which I ever listened. Some time after its de- livery Dr. Cuyler said to me : "I feel as if it had been given to me, and not as if I had created it. If I were called on to name the best I have ever written or spoken I would select this utterance in Exeter Hall." It is reproduced in the report of the Conference. The American delegates, knowing of Dr. Cuyler's almost total deafness, instead of greeting him with applause, all waved their handkerchiefs in the silent Chautauqua salute. This was immediately caught up by the immense audience WORLD'S COMMITTEE AND CONFERENCES 247 and this beautiful expression of enthusiasm became unanimous and international. By special request of Sir George Williams, I had been asked to present the paper from the American delegation on the broad topic "The Work of the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion." No attempt was made to treat of the work as it had been developed in all lands during the half-century. The topic was limited, and interpreted to mean : "Association Work as far as it has been developed in its best form and spirit in the North American Associations." This attitude toward any Association topic to be dealt with on the platform of the World's Conferences had seemed to me, from the beginning of my connection with the Conference, the approach by which speakers from different countries could render their best serv- ice. By this method certainly more correct impressions were given and received concerning what was being accomplished in each country, and delegates returned better informed con- cerning the progress of work in other lands, and of the mes- sage such information carried to them in their own country.* The American jubilee paper, therefore, set forth the develop- ment of Association work on our continent from its beginning in 1851, and what had contributed to its progress and efficiency. Important Advances Agreed Upon It was not at any of the great assemblies of this Jubilee that McBurney rendered his last and greatest service to the World's Conference and its work. As usual at each Conference since 1878 he was appointed a member of the Delegates' Com- mittee, which prepares the report on the World's Committee report. At this Conference, service on this committee proved to be a task so absorbing that he was unable to attend any of the public sessions. There was a strong difference of opinion within the com- mittee, and it was owing to his wise, patient, and prayerful guidance as Chairman, that a unanimous report was submitted in favor of an urgently desired extension of the work of the World's Committee. The report was unanimously adopted and the World's Committee was authorized to secure a second General Secretary. Any other conclusion at that time would * "Jubilee of Y. M. C. A.," 1894, pp. 121-133. 248 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN have created a serious discontent, especially among those Eng- lish speaking friends in Great Britain and America, who were most interested and influential in sustaining the World's Committee's work. Among these friends there had been, for some years, a grow- ing desire for more attention by the Committee to development of the work in the larger cities of the continent. What had been accomplished in Berlin under Count Bernstoflf, Baron von Eothkirch, and Christian Phildius, and in some of the larger cities of Germany, in Stockholm under Prince Oscar Berna- dotte and Karl Fries and also in Paris through Messrs. Stokes, Andr6, Gaylord, Cree, and others, could be extended — it was thought — to other cities if only the World's Committee could secure a Secretary of metropolitan experience as an associate of Secretary Fermaud. Two candidates were mentioned. Chris- tian Phildius, of Berlin, and Karl Fries, of Stockholm, Secre- taries of conspicuous eflBciency in City Association Work. This action of the Conference was favorable to such an in- crease of the Committee's staff, and resulted in a call to Mr. Phildius. It was an action fittingly taken by the Conference, under the leadership of McBurney, the first and ablest of North American Metropolitan Secretaries. In 1896 Phildius became the second General Secretary of the World's Com- mittee. In that responsible oflSce for many years he has ac- complished a useful and valuable service. But he has been diverted from fulfilling the expectations of the members and friends who had most urgently favored his leaving Metropolitan Work in Berlin in order that he might more effectually ex- tend similar Metropolitan Work on the continent of Europe. In addition to this endeavor to extend City Association Work in Europe, an important step was taken at this Jubilee meeting toward extending round the world the Student Asso- ciation Movement of North America. One of the six Interna- tional Secretaries present was John R. Mott. As chairman of the Student Volunteer Movement, in response to an invitation from the Student Volunteer Missionary Union of Great Britain he had crossed the Atlantic to spend some time in visiting the British universities. He could not do this without absent- ing himself from the Northfleld Conference this summer. To facilitate his performing this important errand I was WORLD'S COMMITTEE AND CONFERENCES 249 to return immediately after the Conference, in season for the Northfleld meeting. At London in Exeter Hall, Mott made a brief but very impressive address on the Student Work. This led Prince Oscar Bernadotte, of the Swedish delegation, to seek him out and to offer to call together, in Sweden, a meet- ing of representative students to hear his message, if he would come to that country and deliver it to them. Similar invita- tions came spontaneously from delegates from Denmark, France, and Switzerland. How this constituted one of the steps leading to the forming of a World Student Federation will be told in another chapter.^ In the light of the development of this Student Work, since realized, "we can see clearly that at the Jubilee Conference — where Robert McBurney was rendering his last service — there was present in the person and message of this junior delegate, the beginning and the promise of a student work propaganda, originating indeed in the North American Associations, and fostered by them, but extending its influence beyond and through the Association, to the Church and Kingdom of Christ throughout the world. Visits to Windsor Castle and to Paris The closing event of the Jubilee was a visit to Windsor Castle. By the gracious act of the Queen this royal residence was thrown open to a very unusual extent for the enjoyment of the delegates. We were allowed to visit the Mausoleum in which were the tombs of the Prince Consort and Princess Alice. By the side of the Prince was the place reserved for the Queen. We were also admitted to one of the corridors in the Castle, in which stood a beautiful piece of statuary repre- senting the Queen and the Prince Consort. The Queen is wearing a simple and quaint poke bonnet, and is looking up into the face of the Prince Consort. Under the figures is the inscription : "Allured to brighter worlds, and showed the way." On the wall hung a large painting representing the first official meeting of the Queen and her ministers. This girl of eighteen was dressed in a simple white frock, and on her face was the expression of a royal dignity combined with a shy girlish look, both simple and womanly. »Pp..379, 380. 250 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Near by stood a glass case in which, among other highly prized treasures, was the open, well worn and marked Bible which belonged to General Gordon. During our visit an immense, historic photograph of the delegates was taken in front of the Castle. It was impossible for the camera to take in the whole group at once, so we were taken in three sections, which were put together so as to form one picture. When finished it was discovered that one of our delegation appeared in each section, thus demonstrating his ubiquitous character. The large Swedish delegation added a charm to the music of the Conference by their exquisite singing. They received special and rare permission to visit Westminster Abbey to- gether, and while there, at the monument to Jenny Lind, to pay homage to her memory in song. Immediately after the close of the Conference, in connection with the opening at Paris of the new Association building, the gift of James Stokes and Alfred Andr§, the former received a decoration of the Legion of Honor. I was denied the oppor- tunity of being present at this ceremony in honor of my friend, by an obligation to attend the Northfield Student Conference, an obligation so binding as to hasten my return to America. There was only time in my program before sailing to cross the Channel and make a hurried trip to Paris for a very inter- esting visit to the new building. CHAPTER XIII LOCAL ASSOCIATION WORK Connection with New York City Association For the knowledge of City Association Work needed by an International Secretary I was chiefly indebted to the Associa- tion in my home city of New York, and to that intimate fellow- ship with its General Secretary, Directors, and working com- mittees, of which account has been given.^ In 1876 I was chosen an advisory member of the Board of Directors and became a regular attendant upon its meetings. Ten years later, when the time was ripe for a beginning of what is known as the metropolitan organization, it was ex- President Elbert B. Monroe who expressed to his fellow direc- tors solicitude concerning the branch extension of the New York City Association. Already the Board was responsible for six branches, and the demand for additional ones was urgent. In his own experience, as President, he had felt that this growth laid too heavy a burden upon the Board and the General Secretary. With equal clearness he saw that the creation of these branches by a parent or trunk Association had proved an excellent method of extension. Already within the city there was enough unwise location of some denomina- tional churches to commend the wisdom of the method which the Association had followed in locating the six branches already formed. But as these branches multiplied, could the Board maintain a virile relation to each and also continue to be responsible for the entire direction of the work at the central building? A strong committee was appointed to deliberate and report upon this problem, and a new and needed form of Association supervision within the city was planned. I was vividly reminded of some lectures on Church History from Professor Roswell D. Hitchcock to which, years before as a student, I had listened. In these the origin of the 'Pp. 56-70. 251 252 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN episcopal system was traced to the growth, of the early Chris- tian Church within the metropolitan centers of the Roman Empire. In each city, out of the pdrent church as root and trunk, were developed branches over which the pastor of the parent church exercised authority and control. This authority soon made him an Episcopos or overseer or bishop and finally the episcopal system of church government emerged. Whether a similar system for the Association would result from this deliberation, was an interesting question. The report of the Committee, as modified and adopted, created in New York the first and parent metropolitan organi- zation. The Board of Directors was relieved of administering the work at the central building. This center or unit became known as "The Twenty-third Street Branch" and the Metro- politan Board and its General Secretary were placed in a rela- tion of equal control and oversight to all branches and their buildings. This precedent was soon followed in Philadelphia, Chicago, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Baltimore, and other cities. Each modified the New York plan in some minor details, but all centralized control and supervision in a metropolitan board for the whole city. The change at New York led the Directors to reelect Elbert Monroe to the presidency. Thus began the development of a new agency of Association supervision, endowed with full legal authority and control over local Association administration. In the development by this metropolitan agency of the administration of its local branches, it has been influenced in its working by the example and spirit of deference bred in the older International and State agencies of supervision — the latter being without au- thority and yet giving a supervision which has exerted upon the local Associations which created it a virile, helpful influ- ence essential to the best development of local Association work. The rise and vigor of metropolitan supervision also bears witness to the fact that not yet has excessive supervision been created within the North American Association move- ment. The growing relation to one another of these two phases of supervision is certainly worthy of study and of further development to the benefit of each. Indeed, in the development of Association polity it is interesting to note how emphasis upon the autonomy of the local unit — whether of the LOCAL ASSOCIATION WORK 253 entire local Association or its branches — ^has been conserved and safeguarded. The International Convention, on its part, has strongly fostered the growth of branch organizations within the local Associations. In 1885 and 1889, to all Asso- ciations with branches which had "a distinct roll of member- ship" was granted the number of delegates to which an inde- pendent Association of equal size was entitled. And in 1910 the Convention voted to grant to each metropolitan Board of Directors a representation of two delegates. First, Second, and Home Offices of the Committee After forming the metropolitan organization, the New York Directors deemed it desirable to locate the oflQce of their Gen- eral Secretary outside of any one of the Association buildings. In seeking a new location near the Twenty-third Street build- ing, it was agreed to unite in one suite of rooms oflSces for the Metropolitan Board and the International and New York State Committees. For eighteen years (1870-1887) one room (20x18 feet) in the Twenty-third Street building had been granted without rent to the International Committee as its oflSce. The follow- ing vivid picture of the circumscribed dimensions of the Com- mittee's oflQce at this time recently came to me in a letter from my friend, P. A. Weiting, for years a valued Office Secretary of the Committee. He writes: "It was just thirty-five years ago this very day (on AprU 21, 1879) that I became your office secretary. ... It was during a temporary absence of Erskine Uhl. In those days a stenographer was an unknown quantity, and a man to help every other day in addressing envelopes and to run a. papyrograph, was as much extra help as the Committee could afford. . . . The little office in the Twenty- third Street building, with its access through one door to the gallery of the large Association Hall, for private conferences, and through an opposite door on the other side to the Lecture Eoom, where in time of rush, helpers from the Bowery Branch could work, was very small, but there was a lot of Association history made there!" The dimensions and the equipment of the office and the presence of other occupants in it had induced the Committee, as early as 1881, to locate for me, in my home near by in Fourth 254 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Avenue, a private office where my work of correspondence was accomplished, at first performed almost wholly by my own hand, and later through a stenographer. This home office I occupied from 1881 to 1898. As a room at home it was a wel- come refuge for quiet work away from the push and drive of a small crowded office. Here also uninterrupted interviews could be held with visitors upon important errands. During Chairman Brainerd's term, ending in 1892, intercourse with him was almost entirely confined to the evening, and when I was in the city most of the evenings were spent with him in the library at his residence, only a few steps from my own door. On one floor of a building (25x50 feet) adjoining the old Twenty-third Street building, office room was secured for the three supervisory agencies, Metropolitan, State, and Inter- national, and as its staff continued to grow, our Committee secured a second floor and later a third was rented. One very pleasant feature of the new arrangement was that the offices of McBurney and of the International and State Secretaries continued close to one another in the same building, promoting for all of us a delightful fellowship with him of untold value. Connection with Local Work in Other Cities When the first two International Secretaries began their service in 1868 and 1869, the New York Association stood alone in developing the fourfold work. Problems and Progress in Chicago, 1870-1888 Some account has been given of the Committee's approach with the message of this broad work to the Chicago Associa- tion and of my visits to that city (1870, '76, '78, and '80). ^ Allusion has also been made to the strong leadership of James L. Houghteling, Cyrus H. McCormick, and John V. Farwell, Jr. This leadership was strengthened by a definite agreement en- tered into by these three influential young men to continue together indefinitely their active connection with the Asso- ciation in the development of its work. When they informed me of this agreement, I rejoiced in its bright promise for the Chicago Association and was vividly reminded of the rank »Pp. 66, 72, 151, 190. LOCAL ASSOCIATION WORK 255 and quality of the young men who in New York, some dozen years before this, had organized and developed the fourfold work. Fellowship with these friends in Chicago during their years of strenuous endeavor yielded me one of the supreme satisfactions enjoyed in Association work. It was at this time (1882) that the Chicago Association altered the consti- tutional definition of its object. To the words "the spiritual, mental, and social condition of all within its reach irrespective of age, sex, or condition" were added the words "but especially of young men," and a few years later were substituted for the whole phrase the words now in universal use throughout the brotherhood "the spiritual, mental, physical, and social condi- tion of young men." During the fourth Chicago conference, in 1881, I was again the guest of Mr. Harvey and congratulated him most heartily on his merited success in passing over to younger men who were so competent, the growing Association responsibilities of the work in Chicago. The Chicago parlor conferences of previous years were fol- lowed in 1882, not by a similar meeting, but by several social receptions, the following reference to which I find in a family letter of that period, dated Chicago, February 3rd, 1882 : "I reached here ten days ago and during this period there have been held in the parlors of five leading citizens, receptions in which some of the best men in the city — on the north side, the south side, the west side, and in the central section — have met, ostensibly to greet me as a guest of the Young Men's Christian Association, but really to discover that some of the best young men of the city have undertaken a strong leadership of our work in Chicago. The result is that this work is being placed on a better basis than ever before. It is an event most significant and encouraging for our brotherhood in all sec- tions of the country. In each succeeding visit, I have been more and more deeply impressed with this wonderful city, our second American metropolis, and if ever on this continent the railroad and the telegraph give the preeminence to a city off the seaboard, Chicago seems secure of attaining that distinc- tion." In the following October another two weeks were spent in this city, busily cooperating in an effort to secure the fund voted by the Directors to provide for a complete renovation 256 MY LIFE WlfH YOUNG MEN of the Association building — a renovation necessary in order to put in operation the broader work demanded by the changes announced and advocated in the February conferences. This renovation was accomplished only as a first step toward more adequate equipment, for this building of 1882 could not be made to accommodate such a fourfold work as was now called for, not alone for this city's young men, but for the yet greater multitude in many cities throughout the country which look to Chicago for leadership. To secure that larger building in the near future there was needed a Chicago General Secretary from among the ablest and most promising men in our brotherhood and our Commit- tee was now asked where such a man could be found. Then followed for the Committee's secretarial staff and Bureau a painfully protracted period of search. It was not for us the only time of humiliation, disappointment, and patience as we sought for a man equal to the growing responsibilities of a commanding General Secretaryship. Such a man was needed most conspicuously in Chicago, but equally in other important cities. This and other painful experiences were also deepening conviction of the necessity of increasing facilities for the training of Association employed oflBcers. The leaders of the Student Movement were appealed to for help. Some response came and has ever since been coming from that quarter. EflEort by agencies already in operation was quickened and before this period of waiting on behalf of Chicago had passed, I had taken part in establishing the first Secretarial Training School. For the Association leaders in Chicago this period was one of trying discipline. At the Milwaukee Convention of 1883, as already described,^ Chicago was strongly represented and both Houghteling and McCormick became members of the In- ternational Committee and ex-President Harvey an advisory member. But the Convention did not suggest to these friends a Secretary of the rank desired. McBurney had found a promising associate in the person of James McConaughy, who had served an apprenticeship of six years, first in the International offlce, and then as General Secretary at Harrisburg, and later in New York as Secretary »Pp. 190, 191. LOCAL ASSOCIATION WORK 257 of the Harlem Branch. He was proving himself to be the assistant needed for the too heavy burden McBumey was carrying — a burden under which even his strength finally gave way. During the winter following the Milwaukee Convention I was greatly surprised by a visit of the three friends from Chicago. They had come to New York, they said, on only one errand. Their sole purpose was to secure as General Secretary for their city, either Eobert McBumey or James McConaughy. They did not propose to leave New York till their errand was accomplished ! They asked : "Is it fair for New York to keep two such men, when Chicago has such need of one of them? What can you do to promote our success?" Never more pain- fully than in this emergency did I feel the lack of the men we needed. The Associations and their work were growing in public esteem far more rapidly than we could find qualified leaders. The seriousness of this call was at once recognized by Mc- Bumey. If it summoned either of the two men who had been named, he felt he was the one who must go. He visited Chicago and carefully considered whether he could undertake what had been suggested. His final conclusion was unfavorable to the change. Meanwhile the administration of a growing work was continued in the renovated Chicago building. In December of the same year (1884) Mrs. Morse and I spent a week in the home of President Houghteling. The time was busily occupied in promoting the work and in a consulta- tion concerning plans for a new Association building. Other sites were considered, but the present modification of the one then occupied was finally agreed upon. How this modification could most wisely be attempted was carefully planned. In a consultation with friends who could give substantial help, the proposed changes were deemed practicable. Any further effort to secure the large building fund required was postponed until a General Secretary could be secured. In April, 1886, by invi- tation of the Chicago members, a well attended dinner meeting of the International Committee was held. This was followed by a second similar meeting in November and both helped forward the development of the local as well as the Interna- tional work, while the search for a Secretary continued. 258 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN In the meantime, at the end of three years' active service, President Houghteling felt that he ought to be succeeded by one of the two friends who were inseparably associated with him. The new responsibilities brought upon Cyrus McCor- mick by the recent death of his father made it impossible for him, at that time, to accept the presidency and in 1884 the ofiBce devolved upon the third and equally capable member of this remarkable triumvirate, John V. Farwell, Jr. The long and patient search for a qualified Secretary ended in 1887, by a selection which amply justified and rewarded all concerned in the search, and I experienced an immense relief in calling to the attention of the friends in Chicago L. Wilbur Messer, then Secretary at Cambridge, Massachusetts. They became satisfied, as we were, that his record as a Secretary gave bright promise of his being the man of qualification we all had been seeking. I had the great privilege of introducing him to Mr. McCormick in my home oflSce and hearing the favor- able response he gave to the call from Chicago. There he soon began a very remarkable service of growing efficiency and use- fulness, a service already of thirty years' duration and giving bright promise of many better years to come, for he is now the successor of Robert McBurney and Edwin F. See as our leader in the group of metropolitan General Secretaries. Secretarial Training The Springfield Training School The connection of Secretary Jacob T. Bowne for two years (1883-5) with the Committee's Secretarial Bureau has been mentioned elsewhere. To Uhl and myself his efficient labors were bringing some relief, when one day McBurney came into the office to intro- duce his friend Eev. David Allen Reed, then pastor of a well known working church in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he was planting a "School for Christian Workers." The train- ing of Sunday school superintendents and others in church and Christian work was the object he had in view, and in the Armory Hill section of Springfield, where his church was located, he was completing quite a large building for this school. He and McBurney had known each other for some LOCAL ASSOCIATION WORK 259 years. He was a friend of the Association, had once been actively connected with it, and now desired to establish in the new school a department for training Association Secretaries. To such students he could offer the use of the building, and the biblical and other instruction given to all who came for training. For instruction of secretarial candidates in what was peculiar to Association work he must look to Association leaders, and for this reason he had sought McBurney, who now brought him for consultation to the Secretarial Bureau of the Committee. We all felt the urgent need of a training agency under right leadership. This school might furnish it. Evidently Reed became persuaded he had been led to the right source of supply, for this interview soon led him to seek an- other, in which he and McBurney reported that they had united in reaching the conclusion that Jacob T. Bowne was preeminently the man to undertake the office of instructor in the Association Department of the Springfield School. Bowne was distrustful concerning his ability to accomplish what was expected of him, and we were very reluctant to part with him. All concerned, however, were so agreed in the desire to im- prove what seemed to be a rare and promising opportunity that he accepted the position and in September, 1885, began his work as instructor. In 1887, a call was given to my brother Oliver 0. Morse to become an instructor and the secretary of the school. At this time he was on the staff of the New York State Committee. He accepted the call and became one of the faculty, and the financial mainstay of the institution during the twelve years of his connection with it. In response to a third solicitation, I joined Mr. Keed in consulting with Dr. Luther H. Gulick — who, like Bowne, was a member of the Committee's staff — ask- ing him to undertake, without leaving the work of the Com- mittee, instruction in the Physical Department of the school. Under these three officers, during the following five years, this Secretarial Training School was developed as a part of the School for Christian Workers. But in 1890, chiefly through the efforts of my brother, it became a separate school, under its three leading instructors and officers. McBurney was a member of the corporation and one of the trustees from the beginning. Soon afterward I was elected, and together we 260 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN attended the trustees' meetings in Springfield with vigilant regularity until his death in 1898. In his will he testified to his supreme solicitude for this factor in the development of the Association work, by making to the school his only Asso- ciation bequest, |2,000. This sum was a considerable per- centage of his estate. After McBurney's death I continued in intimate relation to the administration of the school for several years. Then followed a period during which I was not able to give, either in ardent sympathy or in strong cooperation, the time and effort which was very enthusiastically given during its first twenty years. This was partly due to the fact that I felt, and expressed frankly to my friends who were responsible for the management, my dissatisfaction with its administration. It seemed to me that in the instruction given it was being un- necessarily swayed away from that cordial harmony with the public sentiment of the whole brotherhood which was so strongly maintained during its early management, and which called forth hearty approval from successive International Conventions and Secretaries' Conferences. Although passing in this way from the majority to the minority in management, I continued a member of the Board of Trustees, confidently believing that the brotherhood and the school — now become a college under the presidency of my friend. Dr. Lawrence L. Doggett — would ultimately return to their former happy relations, an expectation in which it seems as if the friends of the school and the Associations are not to be disappointed. The Secretarial Bureau The void created by the resignation of Secretary Bowne was temporarily filled by Uhl and his oflBce helpers until in 1889 Bowne's competent acceptable successor was secured. Of him in 1895, I reported to the Convention : "John Glover has had entire charge of the delicate and responsible correspondence connected with the Secretarial Bureau of the Committee, keep- ing the list and register of the General Secretaries and physi- cal directors upon the whole field, recording all secretarial changes, responding to applications for or from Secretaries and candidates. Personal interviews occupy a large share of LOCAL ASSOCIATION WORK 261 his time. This varied and difficult service he has rendered most acceptably, seeking and receiving the cooperation of his associates." The Secretaryship As a Vocation For thirty years now the sphere, activities, and relationship of the Association employed officer had been getting definition by the men of the vocation. During all this period the best of these Secretaries had been meeting in annual conferences. Their chief theme had been their own office and work. Mc- Burney ranked among them preeminently as leader and ex- emplar. They recognized that the laymen volunteers who had organized and during its infancy had developed the Associa- tion had called on them for their help, not to exercise authority and control, but to undertake that part in the leadership which could be performed only by a class of officers who could give their entire time and attention to the work. In the begin- ning of the secretarial period, during the sixties, the local General Secretary was a voting Director. McBumey was a Director of this class from 1863 to 1882, his first twenty years in office. But gradually both laymen and Secretaries agreed that it was no impairment of his leadership for the local Secre- tary to be without vote as to authority and control. After 1882, McBurney ceased to be a voting Director, but the last fifteen years of his secretaryship (1883-98) were the years of his strongest, most achieving leadership. He was not uncon- scious of deficiencies in this and other directions. But at the end he could truthfully testify : Not as though I fully attained and was perfect in this endeavor, but I did press toward the mark for the prize of our upward calling— a calling to leader- ship achieved without authority and through service, accord- ing to the command of Him who Himself came not to be served but to serve. He and his feUow Secretaries found in that sort of service a path to the leadership desired from them. By moral, intellectual, and spiritual suasion they sought to command the intelligence and conscience of those in authority. It was by ministry as servants, rather than by being minis- tered to as men possessed of authority and control, that they sought to obey the command of the Supreme Teacher when he said: "The rulers of the Gentiles . . . exercise authority 262 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN over them. It shall not be so among you, but whosoever would be great among you shall be your servant." The first six years of John Glover in the work of the Secre- tarial Bureau were the beginning of a patient, diligent, un- obtrusive, invaluable service, in which all the Committee's stafE and the State and local Secretaries have harmoniously co- operated with him. He has continued this service now (1917) for twenty-eight years and is still at work in his office with unabated energy. When he began, the number of Association employed officers on the roll was 970 and now (1917) it is more than five thousand. As Secretary Charles K. Ober has developed the Fellowship Plan for recruiting college students for the secretaryship (1908-'17), he has joined Glover in the Secretarial Bureau. Since 1915, under General Secretary Mott, the staff of the Bureau has been further increased by the addition of Eaymond P. Kaighn, as Senior Secretary, and the enlistment, through Charles Ober, of Paul Super, with special reference to the pro- motion by him of Training Centers in the local Associations. This timely and wise enlargement of the Bureau enables it to keep pace with the present (1917) remarkable extension of the Association Movement. The Chicago School Four or five years after the school at Springfield was started, I was consulted by the Directors of the Western Secre- tarial Institute at Lake Geneva, concerning their enterprising project of beginning in the Chicago Association Building a second Training School, and I was glad to be chosen a trustee of that institution. The position was accepted with the hope and plan of rendering service to both schools. But at this time burdens of official responsibility, which could not be dele- gated, made it impracticable for me to render this service, and much to my regret and disappointment, after a few years my official connection with that school was given up. I have been deeply interested in its steady growth into a college and in the indispensable educational work which it has accom- plished, keeping pace with the development of the Associations in their varied work among young men. These two schools have become strong reenforcements of LOCAL ASSOCIATION WORK 263 the Secretarial Bureau, the International Committee and its staff, the Employed Officers' Conference, and the North Ameri- can Association Secretaries in their united efforts to supply the demand for trained employed officers. The demand has been too large and too urgent to be fully supplied by what the two colleges could furnish, but their contribution has been invaluable. In urgent need of further help, Association workers have been glad, in later years, to welcome the effective cooperation of the Summer Schools, the Training Centers, and also the Fellowship Plan, with its apprenticeship feature wrought out by Charles K. Ober, comrade and successor of George A. Hall as a "discoverer of Secretaries," and his acceptable associate, Paul Super. Specialization on the Four Featuees of the Fourfold Work As early as 1870 the fourfold work as a unit had been con- spicuously introduced into the program of the city Asso- ciation. The day of specialization upon any one of the four features, by a class of Christian workers set apart and trained for the purpose, arrived only after fifteen years, during which another kind of specialization or extension of Association work had been auspiciously begun among various important groups or classes of young men including college students, railroad employes, German speaking, and colored young men. Physical Department The physical feature of the fourfold work was the first to attract and receive this emphasis. From the beginning the need of trained and devoted Christian workers in this depart- ment was urgently felt. The gymnasium rapidly became the most popular agency of the city Associations, attracting to the buildings fifty per cent of the young men and boys seeking membership. In 1885, fifteen years after the first, with a competent Superintendent, had been opened in New York, one hundred Association gymnasiums were in operation, but only thirty Superintendents had been secured. None of these came to the Secretaries' Conferences as Christian workers and em- ployed officers. At these meetings Secretaries confessed with sorrow their inability to secure such very desirable Superin- tendents, and many friends were raising the question: Will 264 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN the gymnasium secularize the Association, or can and will the Association Christianize the gymnasium? It was in these years of solicitude that the forerunner of the Christian Physical Department Secretary appeared. In the autumn of 1880, when the program of the Convention of the following spring was being prepared. Secretary M. K. Deming of Boston called at our office to report : "We have now in the Boston gymnasium a Superintendent who is also a Christian worker, and who is on the floor and mat of the gymnasium primarily to promote the coming of young men into the Chris- tian life." Immediately I asked if this Superintendent would come to the International Convention next May, at Cleveland, and report his work. To hear this report that Convention adjourned, during an afternoon session, and, leaving the church in which it was meeting, reassembled in a large hall. Upon the platform, after making an effective address, Eobert J. Koberts — who still con- tinues (1917) an instructor on the floor of the Boston gym- nasium — exhibited to the delegates the Eoberts dumb-bell drill by leading a class, of which Secretary Deming was a member. This was a new idea to most of the delegates, as well as to the General Secretary. It was the first time the Convention had made room in its program for a presentation of the work of the Physical Department. Later, on the floor of the New York gymnasium, I became thoroughly acquainted with this form of exercise and its veteran promoter, and for over thirty years have experienced untold physical benefit from the daily practice of his drill without the dumb-bells. Eoberts continued his exemplary work as a model gymna- sium leader, seeking to make "all exercises safe, short, easy, beneficial, and pleasing." He coined the expression, "body building," which correctly describes the Association method in training the body for efiSciency, not making bodily strength an end in itself. His example was felt as a strong influence toward the betterment of Association Physical Work. It was not until 1888 that seventeen Gymnasium Superin- tendents, or as they have been called since 1889 — Christian Physical Directors — came to a Secretaries' Conference, and were welcomed as fellow Christian workers. It was a mistake for them to take the name "Director." They should be known LOCAL ASSOCIATION WORK 265 as Secretaries of the Physical Department. To the name of Director the laymen of the movement have an older and su- perior title. For fifteen years this conference had been train- ing Secretaries by the contact of discussion and fellowship. At Harrisburg in 1886, 216 of these employed oflBcers were present. After 1888 the Christian Physical Directors became an important group. First International Physical Work Secretary The leader among this first group, who was also the cause of their coming, was Dr. Luther H. Gulick, among the first gifts of the medical profession to the Physical Department of the Association brotherhood. McBurney and I became ac- quainted with him in 1886 while he was a medical student in New York City, and learned from him that in his medical studies his greatest interest related to body building, and to exercise according to the laws of health and hygiene. The prevention more than the cure of disease challenged his atten- tion and investigation. Before coming to New York he had been connected with a small Association in the West, and had helped in its Physical Work. Of the Association gymnasium and its health-giving uses in the line of exercise he had the same opinion as had Koberts. He appreciated the over- emphasis hitherto given in our gymnasiums to athletic feats, and heartily believed in a change. From us he received every encouragement we could give. He was the son of a missionary and belonged to a family eminent and well represented on the foreign mission field. The call to that field was under favorable consideration by him, but his conception of what was needed, and could be accomplished at home by a just emphasis upon, and reverence for the physical man, led him in October, 1887, to begin a life work in this direction. He had entered Association work as an employed officer at the West early in 1886, but in the autumn of that year came to New York to study medicine and consented to devote a part of his time to promoting Associa- tion Physical Work for the International Committee, as its first Secretary in that department. In February, 1887, he read a paper before the New York State Convention making an earnest, thoughtful plea for "reaching spiritually members 266 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN using the gymnasium," and for securing "earnest Christian Gymnasium Superintendents." This was the year in which I attended the Twenty-third Street gymnasium, learned the Roberts dumb-bell drill, and became for a time one of the leaders' corps. In conferring with him about his convictions, as a Student Volunteer for foreign missions, I was vividly reminded of intercourse ten years before with Wishard — the other Luther on our force — and cited to Gulick the experience of this prede- cessor who was already numerously represented in mission lands, and who was then planning a long tour on that field, in the interest of placing upon it many more Christian work- ers. During the recent (1910-1917) achievements of our Physi- cal Department Secretaries in Asia, I have often recalled the missionary conviction of this hindered Student Volunteer and first Physical Department Secretary of the International Committee. After Gulick had been with the Committee a year he began to serve also as an associate instructor with Robert J. Roberts in the Springfield Training School, where he became the head of the department. In both positions he was a pioneer who thoroughly mastered the fundamental purpose of his de- partment and gave wise initial direction to its development. At the International Convention of 1889 he read a forcible, thoughtful paper entitled, "Our New Gymnastics," showing in a way to produce a lasting impression, (1) that these gym- nastics of the Association promoted an education of the physi- cal powers in their relation to the whole man — body, mind, and spirit; (2) that such an education, by being related to the other parts of a man, is more than simply physical, and re- lated only to bodily health; (3) that this education is needed by us more than it was needed by our ancestors; and (4) that the methods of these "New Gymnastics" are thoroughly scientific. This paper or treatise was an event of decided influence in shaping, under leadership by its author and his successors, the entire Physical Department of the Association. The use of the triangle as an Association emblem was due to the influence and suggestion of this paper and its author. By his double relation. Dr. Gulick promoted in the school the training of Physical Department Secretaries, and io the International LOCAL ASSOCIATION WORK 267 Secretaryship the calling and settlement of these trained men by Associations in need of them. In his first summer (1887) at the Training School he called the first of a series of Summer Schools which were attended by almost all Association Gymnasium Superintendents then in office. By this means, for a term of years (1887-1903) he promoted among them a scientific and Christian spirit in the work of their vocation. In 1892 a Summer Conference of Physical Directors was developed by him in connection with both the Secretaries' Conference and the Springfield School. Later, in 1903, under his successor. Dr. George J. Fisher, this grew into the Physical Directors' Society. In 1895 the time was ripe for organizing the Athletic League of the North American Associations. At Dr. Gulick's sugges- tion it was authorized by the International Convention of that year, and Gulick became Secretary. The chairman of the Com- mittee's Physical Department, Frederick B. Pratt, was chair- man ex-offlcio of the League's governing council. Dr. Gulick's relation to the Committee and the Springfield School con- tinued until 1904. In both positions he was preeminently a pioneer who clearly discovered the enduring quality inherent in this new work. He also saw with far more clearness and conviction than I could at that time, that it was not his mis- sion to do more than the work of a pioneer. What he had achieved with capacity and thoroughness opened for him, he thought, a door into other positions which were attractive to him because the remarkable versatility of his talents gave him ability to achieve there also, on other than Association lines, what was of genuine value in physical betterment work. But he did not leave Association work until he had made sure that there was available, for each position he held, a successor trained and able to take up the work at the point to which he had successfully carried it. He was succeeded at the school by his "star pupil" Dr. James H. McCurdy, and in the International Secretaryship, on his own recommendation, by Dr. George J. Fisher. Both have carried forward and developed most admirably the work begun by Dr. Gulick. Dr. Fisher formed the Physical Direc- tors' Society and its strong program, and has been its Presi- dent to the present time (1917). He has also proved himself 268 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN a capable leader in the extension of the Physical Work beyond the Association buildings and membership in the playground movement, swimming campaigns, and other forms of com- munity betterment. To the extension of our physical work on the foreign field he has also rendered timely and invaluable service. In 1917 he is serving on the New York State Military Training Commission promoting physical training in all the schools of this state. Educational Work Five years after the beginning of specialization upon the Physical Department, in 1890, a fellow Secretary called my attention to the need of a similar development of the Educa- tional Department. Weidensall's health had been seriously affected by over- work, and in 1888 Brainerd began to complain to me that he could not induce Weidensall to take the rest which he evi- dently needed. He had been sent to the Pacific Coast with instructions not to engage in work. But the temptation to give help where it was sorely needed had made him disregard these instructions. In his absence from the central West, John R. Hague, for some years the acceptable Secretary of the St. Paul Association, was enlisted as a member of the Inter- national force, early in September 1888. He was a friend and a schoolmate of the sons of Charles Pratt, the honored founder of the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, who was then com- pleting the establishment of that admirable institution. John Hague in his visitation of the Associations became especially interested in their evening class work. He craved for this department such specialization by the International Committee as was being given to the Physical Work, and became interested in investigating and reporting what local Associations had accomplished on this line. I called his atten- tion to what had been already accomplished in evening classes by the New York Association even before the erection of its building on Twenty-third Street, and how in that building, with its larger accommodations, the classes were more numer- ous, and as early as 1874 were attended by two hundred and twenty-nine students. In 1883 it occurred to McBurney to send out a questionnaire asking each member to state any LOCAL ASSOCIATION WORK 269 benefit derived from attendance upon the classes. To this 388 replies were received, so full of encouragement and sug- gestion that in 1885 another questionnaire was sent out more widely among the members, asking in what lines they desired opportunities for self-improvement. Six hundred and eleven members responded with suggestions which led to the organi- zation of an excellent orchestra and to the opening of classes in mechanical and free hand drawing, to which came young men engaged in 37 different occupations. To accommodate the growing work, rooms on the upper floors of the building were appropriated, for which the Association had been receiv- ing an annual rental of |1,500. To the Convention of 1889 201 Associations reported 14,000 students in evening classes, receiving instruction in fifteen subjects. Of these students 1,676 were taught in twelve of these subjects in the five branches of the New York City Asso- ciation, in Brooklyn 800 in twelve subjects, and in Chicago 500 in seven subjects. Secretary Hague thought that through the agency of the International Committee this work could be carried on in many more Associations than were now promoting it. This suggestion strongly appealed to me and in looking for the financial help necessary, we were led to approach Mr. Charles Pratt, to whose attention some time before I had already brought the entire International work. The buildings of the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn had been completed in 1887. Mr. Pratt was favorably impressed by our presentation of the Educational Work already attempted by the Associations, and he recognized our need of expert educa- tional help and of the supervision which we were anxious to provide. He had an impression that an extension of what he was accomplishing on educational lines in Brooklyn might be accomplished through a cooperation on his part with the Asso- ciations and their agent, the International Committee. After the opening of the Institute several interviews were held with Mr. Pratt and his son Frederick B. Pratt, who was associated with his father in charge of the Institute. The sudden death of Mr. Pratt in 1891 occurred before any definite conclusion had been reached, but in his desk was found a letter addressed to me, in which he offered |1,000 to the Committee as a per- 270 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN sonal contribution in aid of its work. His sons sent this gift to our Treasurer, and Frederick B. Pratt accepted an election as a member of the Committee in 1892. He also became the first chairman of its sub-committee on Educational Work — a position which he has continued to hold for the past twenty-six years (1917). Chairman Pratt's first solicitude was to secure, as the Edu- cational Secretary of the Committee, a properly qualified man who had had the experience needed both as an educa- tionist and as an Association worker. Not finding one with this double qualification, the question was raised: "Shall we look for an Association man who might gain qualification afterward as an educationist, or for a man of educational ex- perience, to whom will be given time and opportunity to learn of Association principles and methods?" It was the latter alternative which was resorted to, and after more than a year of search Chairman Pratt, making use of his better knowledge of the educational field, discovered late in 1892 a promising candidate at Fargo in the State University of Dakota. As Dr. Gulick had come to us from the medical profession, now from the teacher's profession the Committee received, in George B. Hodge, an instructor of normal school training. He at once laid before the Committee a carefully prepared statement of his conception of the new work in the new field, to which he had been called. It had been drawn up by him, according to our request, before his investigation of the work already accomplished by the Associations. On the basis of this statement, and in accord with his own preference, he be- gan a careful visitation and study of what was being achieved in Associations where the best work on this line was accom- plished. By the Association in Dayton, Ohio, where David A. Sinclair had been the remarkably efllcient Secretary since 1874, more was being accomplished in this line for young men than by any other Association in a city of that size. Mr. Hodge's visit was the beginning of an investigation which made him thoroughly acquainted with what had been accom- plished, not only in educational class work but also in the Reading Room, Library, Literary Class, Lecture Bureau, and kindred activities. This investigation somewhat modified his original plans, and by patient, strenuous endeavor he began LOCAL ASSOCIATION WORK 271 to gain that growing confidence of the Committee and of the brotherhood in this work, which he continued to deserve and enjoy for over twenty-four years of remarkable achievement. In this service he developed the finest capacity to serve the brotherhood in the establishment of a new and urgently needed Bureau of historical records and reports. His consent to undertake this service for the whole movement, including a masterly editing and enlargment of the Year Book, led the Committee to secure in 1916 as his very worthy successor William Orr, for many years connected with the Associa- tion movement and also with the cause and work of educa- tion as a commissioner of the Massachusetts State Board of Education. The growth of its Educational Department has paralleled the remarkable growth of the Association in other features of its varied work. In 1917 over 83,000 pupils engaged in over 200 occupations were being taught in over 200 subjects by faculties composed of nearly 2,500 teachers, supervised by 212 Educational Secretaries or heads of the local departments. The Boston Educational Work enrolling 4,200 students, has been recently (1917) organized and incorporated as "The Northeastern College," and its secretary, Frank Speare, has been installed in the oflSce of president of the institution thus created, in which chief emphasis is placed on that vocational education which from the beginning has been the objective of this department of the Association work. Religious Work and Specialisation Upon It For many years I shared with other Association leaders their serious hesitation about setting apart Secretaries to devote themselves wholly to the spiritual or technically Reli- gious Work. All the fourfold work was religious in the intent of the worker and leader, volunteer or employed. To set apart a class who alone should give themselves wholly to Bible work and evangelistic effort might lead other workers, each in his own department, to feel not a quickened but a lessened re- sponsibility for efifort on these lines. This hesitation, how- ever, only postponed experimental specialization in this direc- tion. As already mentioned* the first convention action in favor * p. 217. 272 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN of setting apart an International Secretary to Bible study and work was taken at Mobile in 1897, with the hearty co- operation of some who had heretofore been most hesitant about such a new departure. In the summer following the Mobile Convention, at the sug- gestion and call of Secretary Glen Shurtleff of Cleveland, I attended, with a group of twenty-one Association Secretaries — Local, State, and International — a conference upon the Eeli- gious Work of the Associations in the realm of Bible study and evangelism. We spent several days together in unhurried deliberation. Every discussion of a topic or phase of the work, before we closed it, was carefully reduced to a written conclu- sion or proposition upon which we became unanimously agreed. On our return I remember McBurney and See called together their fellow Secretaries of New York, Brooklyn, and vicinity, and placing upon the blackboard the conclusions or propositions we had arrived at, sought in brotherly discussion and obtained from them the same enthusiastic assent which had been given in our conference. For this meeting of twenty- one, and the permanent good resulting from it, we all felt deeply indebted to the leadership of Glen Shurtleflf of Cleve- land. He was one of the wise, strong, progressive men in the city secretaryship, whose service was given, as occasion and opportunity offered, to the whole brotherhood. This was one out of many instances of his wise seizure of a well chosen opportunity to render such a timely service to all his fellow- workers. In the following spring, the year of McBurney's last long illness, the New York State Committee called a conference which, under the leadership of Secretary Edwin F. See of Brooklyn, and Fred S. Goodman, State Secretary of New York, prepared the material of a "Prospectus" of the Bible Study Department. In it could be found the conclusions reached by the conference of 1897. It was adopted and issued by the International Committee as a first attempt to crystal- lize in such a publication "the growing sentiment among the Associations in favor of progressive and uniform Bible study on a broad basis." The first prospectus was limited to Bible work. Its suc- cessors treated of a fourfold Religious Work of (1) Bible LOCAL ASSOCIATION WORK 273 Study; (2) aggressive religious meetings; (3) organized per- sonal Christian effort "in the sphere of the daily calling" ; (4) work for young men in non-Christian lands. To carry out this program there were added in 1899 to the stafE of the Committee and to its Field Department Fred B. Smith, for the better promotion and organization of evangelistic work, and in 1901 Fred S. Goodman for the Bible work. Don O. Shelton also cooperated eflBciently in this phase of the work for over a year. In 1901 the special Eeligious Work Department was formed, with these three Secretaries on its staff. From the beginning, doing religious work in a growing variety of ways had been characteristic of Association workers throughout all their activities. Now the value of specialization upon this supreme, pervasive feature of the work was being demonstrated by the separation of some men to it, in the interest of the whole brotherhood, and the staff was steadily increased. In response to these efforts the sum of fruitful religious work by the Asso- ciations was augmented. Many City Associations added Secretaries set apart to special religious work. The Men and Religion Movement of 1910-1911, reaching with inspirational influence sixty cities, was an outgrowth of the activities of this department. Parallel with this special religious emphasis was the growth during this period of both Bible and evangelistic work in the Student Associations, led by the student staff of the Commit- tee. Both movements, city and student, made use of the Com- mittee's Publication Department for the issuing of courses of Bible study and other literature. Both were strong expres- sions of an emphasis upon specialization in the Religious Work of the Association Movement. They yielded results which encouraged leaders and workers to persevere in further specialization, seeking improvement of methods, and the en- listment of a leadership — ^local, State, and International — which would steadily make the Religious Work more and more central, supreme, and pervasive. In the further development of this specialization, under the stronger leadership of General Secretary Mott, Senior Secretary Robert P. Wilder, Professor Henry B. Wright and others, better achievement than ever is being accomplished by the Associations in that work which is the objective and crown of all their activities. CHAPTER XIV THE PROBLEM OF THE CHAIRMANSHIP Resignation of Cephas Braineed and Election of His Successor The resignation of Cephas Brainerd as chairman of the Committee was an epoch-making event. For twenty-five years this important offlce was administered by him with such remarkable ability that if the event was to take place, I could not be grateful enough that the shadow it cast upon my path was sufiSciently long for me to enter it intelligently nearly a year before the resignation itself took effect. Early in the autumn of 1891, soon after our return from the World's Conference at Amsterdam, in very friendly fashion he told me of his purpose to resign at the end of the year on December 31, 1891. His reasons as he afterward gave them in written form were: 1. His age — fifty-six years. This he frankly acknowledged was not satisfactory to others, but was completely so to himself. 2. The increasing work of the Committee. 3. His health. 4. The counsel of his family. On the last named reason he justly placed strong emphasis, for Mrs. Brainerd was as deeply interested in the work as himself. They were in fullest sympathy in donating to the work what was to both of them costly and beyond price, and yet most cheerfully given. Her judgment and decision fully accorded with his, and wisely rested upon considerations relating to important professional business and family obligations. The change or transfer of administrative responsibility in- volved in his withdrawal made it an event which no one could intelligently contemplate without some serious apprehension. Perhaps to no one connected with the International Work did it seem so serious as to me. Our intercourse had been intimate for over twenty-two years. His readiness to take and bear a first responsibility; his insight and sagacity in the pressure of difQcult situations; his large share in the more taxing por- tion of the correspondence; his practice of tarrying in the 274 THE PROBLEM OP THE CHAIRMANSHIP 275 city in active business, summer and winter, far beyond the practice of most of his associates ; and the knowledge of each other which each of us had gained, made to me the conse- quences of his withdrawal, as I tried to anticipate them, almost unthinkable. On the first mention of his purpose, after meditating on what he had said, I told him of this feeling, and with utmost friendliness he sought to comfort me. But his withdrawal was to be into the non-attending advisory membership. He had commanded and was commanding the confidence not only of his associates, but of practically all the Association leaders throughout the continent. While he had been absent from some Conventions of primary importance, his ably drawn reports had been read at the seventeen Conventions held dur- ing his chairmanship. At the majority of these he had been present, and this fact, together with his wide correspondence, caused him to be well known throughout the brotherhood. Soon after the Chairman had told me of his purpose in the autumn of 1891, the condition of McBurney's health was such as to lead the New York Board, and our Committee, to grant to both of us a leave of absence to visit Egypt and Palestine. Under the pressure of this emergency the Chairman gave up his intention of resigning at the end of the year 1891, and consented to continue in ofQce until the day in July, 1892, which would mark exactly the end of a quarter-century term in oflBce. This breakdown of McBurney's health was really the be- ginning of the end, which, however, did not come until after the lapse of seven years and not until he had rendered very important additional service, both to the New York Associa- tion, and to the whole brotherhood. His physical condition seemed a menace to the City and the International Work, and to all of us it appeared to be my primary duty to be with him during his leave of absence. During this period (1890-1895) another consideration was influencing him. He felt that the International Work, the growth of which he had effectively fostered, was in danger of being unduly and disproportionately extended. He was equally identified with the New York State Work, and was strongly inclined to believe that whatever increase of super- 276 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN vision was needed by the Associations now, could be secured from the State organizations, rather than from the Interna- tional. He was interested in our securing at this time an International Educational Secretary, but questioned whether this new department might not be wisely deputed to the staff of the State Committees. To me this did not appear sound reasoning, though I was heartily committed with him to the steady growth of State supervision. One of the reasons for the existence of the Inter- national organization was the fostering of the growth of State Work. But a corresponding and accompanying growth of the International Work seemed equally desirable. Both should grow with the development of the local Association Movement — each also in sympathy and cooperation with the other. How- ever I kept an open mind, and was heartily willing to experi- ment with the committal of some one or more departments to the State organizations. Some years before, though the way was open to secure a Boys' Secretary for the Interna- tional Committee, I cooperated cheerfully with the New York State Committee in securing for them the first qualified candi- date — Sumner F. Dudley, who had proved an efficient and successful leader in Boys' Work. During this period also the provincial and state organiza- tions in their militia tent work were beginning a form and method of Association work among soldiers destined to a vast extension by the International agency of supervision. But, aside from this conflict of opinion, another controlling event of this period (1892-97) caused an actual arrest of extension, by either agency of supervision. A severe financial depression throughout the country began in 1893 and con- tinued for several years to retard the growth of Association work, local as well as supervisory. When it began it was too late to cut down the Committee's expenses of 1893, which amounted to |75,000, an annual expenditure greater than that of any preceding year. Not until four years later was the annual expenditure equal to this sum. Then in 1898 by the Army and Navy Work the Committee's expenditure was more than doubled, during the months of the brief war with Spain. During this trying period of depression the state and local THE PROBLEM OP THE CHAIRMANSHIP 277 organizations suffered even more serious retrenchment. Some State Committees were so embarrassed by the loss of members of their staff that at their urgent request, the International Committee lent them its Secretaries for brief periods. In this way the integrity of our staff was maintained, while a neces- sary reduction of both International and State budgets was accomplished, and State Work was helped at points of greatest need. Both agencies of supervision were thus able to render more help to the local organizations than would otherwise have been possible. A Trip to Palestine and the Near East In the autumn of 1891 our friend Elbert B. Monroe ex- pressed to McBurney and myself the concern he felt regarding both of us in the matter of overwork. "You ought to take such a rest as you never yet have secured — a rest taken in the midst of your working year. I believe that in this way each of you would secure additional years of ability to continue at the maximum of your eflSciency." He accompanied this solicitude for our welfare with the offer to us of the cost of a trip that season to Egypt and the Holy Land. Such an absence at this busy season seemed to us out of the question, but it was a characteristic offer from Elbert Monroe. He was himself a genuine forerunner of the Laymen's Missionary Movement, having made some years before this time a world tour of foreign missionary visitation. This experience was leading him in a generous way to promote similar visits by leaders in Christian work, to the advantage of both the visitors and their fellow workers on the foreign field. Soon after this interview, McBurney experienced enough of a breakdown to keep him for the first time from joining the "Topic Party" at its annual session in November. This cir- cumstance increased the urgency of Mr. Monroe's invitation, in which he was now joined by some of his associates on the International Committee, and among the Directors of the New York Association, so we agreed to go in February, after a satisfactory close of the fiscal year by both the Committee and the Association. After my more important financial letters for the new year had been prepared, our party of four— McBurney and my asso- 278 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN ciate Charles K. Ober, with Mrs. Morse and myself — set out for Egypt by way of Paris, Florence, Rome, and Naples. In a family letter I thus described our experiences : "We tarried in Italy, spending a few days in each of these cities. We gained also brief but very vivid impressions of the Nile, the Pyramids and the Sphinx, of Cairo, with its mission work, mosques, minarets, universities, bazaars, and museum, and of Heliopolis, where Joseph found his wife, and where centuries afterward Moses received his education. But Pales- tine was our destination. Beginning with Jaffa, the plain of Sharon, the vale of Ajalon, and the mountains of Judea, we arrived at Jerusalem. A brief visit was made to Bethlehem and Hebron. With horses, mules, tents, and dragoman we journeyed to Jericho, the Jordan, and the Dead Sea. Eetum- ing to Jerusalem, we set out upon the interesting journey to Damascus, through Shiloh and Sychar, between Mounts Ebal and Gerizim, and on to Samaria, the plain of Ezdraelon, Dotham, and Jezreel, Naboth's vineyard, and past Nain to Nazareth. Here from the mountain behind the village, through a wonderfully clear sky, we looked far to the soutii over the path we had traveled, with Carmel, Gilboa, and Tabor in full view; to the north the sea and mountains of Galilee appeared with snow-clad Lebanon in the farther distance. On the west the blue Mediterranean, and on the east the mountains of Moab, beyond the Jordan, completed a prospect and vision which once seen, were never to be forgotten. Our camp one evening was near the fountain of the village of Nazareth, where in every generation the women of the place have come, as they are now daily coming, to fill their water pots and where we cannot doubt the mother of our Lord came very often with the Child as her companion. The next day, Saturday, we passed through Cana of Galilee and reached Tiberias on the Lake in time to take ship past what was Mag- dala and Bethsaida. The water was very calm and we won- dered why the expert boatmen kept so close to the bending shore of tiie bay, instead of taking a straight course from one arm of it to the other, which was our destination. Upon our asking the reason, they pointed to a dark, angry cloud, high up the deep valley and told us that no one could tell whether at any moment a storm might be upon us. Soon indeed we felt a sudden gust and instantaneously all the surface of the bay about us was roughened. But in the upper air that afternoon, a contrary current carried the cloud away from us out of the valley and took our anxieties with it. We soon reached the site of Capernaum and wandered among the scant remains of the synagogue in which our Lord uttered the sermon on the Bread of Life. From day to day perfect weather was granted THE PROBLEM OF THE CHAIRMANSHIP 279 US, and at every sunrise and sunset the landscape and sky were beautiful beyond description. Returning from Capernaum along the shore of the bay, we pitched our camp over Sunday upon the plain of Gennesaret near the site of Bethsaida and all Sunday morning we sat by the sea m full view of Gerghesa on the opposite shore, and of that 'steep place' near it, while beyond the plain in front of us were visible on the one hand the Mount of the Beatitudes and on the other almost the entire lake, near whose shores, now comparatively deserted, were located in the time of our Lord many cities full of people who were ever flocking about and pressing upon Him to hear the word of life and to receive His healing touch and message. It was a rare privilege to spend these beautiful days in such scenery, and to read again in this environment the words he spoke in synagogue and on yet more sacred plain and shore and mountain. Three days we spent in passing through the upper Jordan valley and over the lower slopes of Hermon. Thrice we camped on the sides of the mountain and awakened each morning with the 'dew of Hermon' all about us. On the fourth day, still in the presence of the wonderful mountain, we entered the city of Damascus, over what is left of the once excellent Eoman road by which blinded but obedient Saul of Tarsus was led into its streets." In another letter written home at the time, I said : "We were pleasantly located in a new hotel of this most ancient city. Is it correctly called the oldest city in the world ? Certainly it was already aged when Eliezer left it, to become the faithful servant of Abraham. Beaching it across the heated plain we are greatly refreshed by its gardens, well-watered by the 'Abanah and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus,' the waters of which are now led through these streets and bring such cool- ness and comfort that one is ready heartily to join Naaman in his good opinion of these ancient streams. Of course we are shown the site of Naaman's house ! We have gone through the 'street called Straight,' and it deserves its name in this city of crooked lanes and avenues. The bazaars seem far more extensive and interesting than those of the larger metropolis of Cairo. There is only one carriage road — a westward one — out of Damascus. On all other sides passengers and freight must go out or enter by means of men or horses, donkeys or mules, camels or other beasts of burden. This one road has been built by a French corporation, with a well equipped line of diligences, over Lebanon. This diligence we mounted one day at 4:30 a. m. (April 4th). Our six horses were changed every 280 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN hour as we wound up the sides of lofty Hermon, several thou- sand feet, then down into the valley beyond, only to rise again yet higher — even above the snow line of Lebanon, whence we descended to the coast city of Beirut, beautiful for situation on the blue Mediterranean. We entered its streets at 5:30 p. M. with the eleventh team of horses we had used during the day. But soon — so we are told — a welcome railroad is to unite Beirut and Damascus, and another, Jaffa and Jerusalem ; and later Beirut, Kaifa, Jaffa, and far-off Cairo are to be in like manner connected. Speed the day !" At Beirut we had been expected, and received a most hos- pitable welcome from our friends among the older and younger professors and teachers, leaders and workers connected with the American College, the Bible House, the church, the Girls' Seminary, and other Christian institutions of Beirut. This is indeed highly favored among Moslem cities in the shelter it has given to a center of Christian faith, life, and service, more intelligent, sacrificial, and Christ-revealing than the older Christian churches of the near east have been pre- senting to the world of Islam. For a month we had been traveling among a population of this land of promise which had excited pity and solicitude. From communication with the people we were shut out, by the impassable barrier of language. Our dragoman was the only interpreter we had. He was a good Christian man, son of an Austrian Hebrew, who had served in Kossuth's army and had survived only to live as an exile in Syria, marrying a native of Jerusalem, the place of his residence. The son for thirty years has been a Syrian guide, an expert in his vocation. His ambition for his son, a lad of fifteen, was that he might receive a Christian edu- cation at the college in Beirut. After taking counsel with our friends in this institution, we four agreed to provide the lad with this opportunity, hoping he would justify the good opinion of his father and friends. To quote from another letter of the period : "Urgent indeed and distressing is the need of the people of Syria. In Jerusalem I met an intelligent Christian native, a member of the church of England, and asked him what hope- ful expectation cheered the intelligent patriotic men of his country. He confirmed what I had heard, that while the gov- erning Turk was hated, the Russian was feared even more. THE PROBLEM OF THE CHAIRMANSHIP 281 He himself was so despondent and bewildered that I felt as if I were talking with a man without a country. The abomi- nableness of the abominable Turk was certainly apparent on every hand. He discourages and oppresses industry by every kind of extortionate tax, especially on the successful farmer or any other industrious producer. If one turns from the ruling class to the so called Christian population — Greek, Latin, Copt, Maronite, etc. — one feels keenly how little . the Christian name stands for anything that excites hope. At Bethlehem, in the chancel of the church built on the traditional site of the nativity, we found a Moslem soldier stationed day and night to keep the peace — so sharp and bitter is the con- test between the two sects of Christians for this site, of which each now occupies one-half. At a few points along our path we had found excellent Christian work and workers, English, Scotch, and German, and here we come into sympathetic touch with an American center of Christian influence, and with a group of devoted men and women, representative of the best quality of Christian faith and service in the generation to which they belong." On our homeward journey from Beirut we visited Smyrna, Ephesus, Athens, Constantinople, and Vienna. At Eobert College on the Bosphorus, at the Bible House near the Golden Horn, and in the group of teachers and workers who welcomed us there we gained the same encouraging outlook which had greeted us at Beirut and wherever we found the genuine Chris- tian missionary at work. At Vienna Mrs. Morse was overtaken by an attack of fever so serious and alarming that our stay there was prolonged for several weeks. The other two members of our party completed the journey, as had been planned, in northern Italy, the change and recreation of travel proving of permanent benefit to our friend McBurney. After a very trying and anxious experience in Vienna, Mrs. Morse recovered suflBciently for us to return home by way of Berlin and Bremen. It had proved for both of us a journey ending in a very trying ordeal, but also full of many experiences, the memory of which we cherished with an ever growing gratitude. A Fitting Tribute to the Retiring Chairman Soon after our return in June, 1892, Cephas Brainerd re- tired from the chairmanship. A very significant tribute to 282 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN him was planned by the graceful courtesy of William R Dodge, who led in signing a letter inviting Mr. Brainerd to a dinner and commemorative meeting. Sixty-two friends of the work from all parts of the country joined in this request. Seventy-seven were present at the meeting, and from seventy who could not come letters of regret were received. A full account of this commemoration was prepared and pub- lished in an octavo pamphlet of sixty-five pages, entitled: "A Tribute to Twenty-five Years of Successful Leadership in Work for Young Men." It contained brief but discriminating tributes from William E. Dodge, Jr., Eev. Dr. Theodore L. Cuyler, Hon. William M. Evarts, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Austin Abbott, Morris K. Jesup, Cyrus H. McOormick, Gen. O. O. Howard, Elbert B. Monroe, H. Kirke Porter, of Pittsburgh, Henry M. Moore, of Boston, Major Joseph Hardie, of Ala- bama, Eobert K. McBurney, and others. In the opening address Mr. Dodge said : "It is twenty-five years and more since Mr. Brainerd ac- cepted the position he has so worthily filled, and in thinking back over so long a period some of us would feel pretty old, if it were not for the fact that the Young Men's Christian Association is a fountain of perpetual youth. Neither Mr. Brainerd nor Mr. Morse nor Mr. McBurney will ever grow old ; they are like the trees of the tropics that bear blossoms and fruit through all the year. They are always devising new plans, and always patiently and wisely working out schemes that but a little while before seemed impossible. There is one pleasant thing about an occasion of this kind. It is an opportunity of telling a good man in his lifetime how much we appreciate his work. The best men have their periods of depression, and it is a cheer and inspiration to them to know that others understand their difficulties and think kindly of them. We Americans have a vicious habit of criticizing and withholding praise from our best men, and when they die, loading their unconscious graves with eulogy. It is an old chestnut, but the quaint fellow in the back country had much philosophy and knowledge of human nature when he said: 'I would rather have a pound of "taffy" than a ton of "epi- taffy." ' Personally I feel under a great debt of gratitude to Mr. Brainerd. Some of you will remember the serious divisions and dissensions which occurred in our work in New York in its earliest days. There was a temptation to go outside of 'work by young men for young men,' and to become directly THE PROBLEM OF THE CHAIRMANSHIP 283 interested in the exciting questions of those troublous times. Many of us were discouraged, and for a time withdrew from the Association. I cannot forget how earnestly Mr. Brainerd came to me, and in what a kindly and brotherly spirit he urged me to come back, pleading that there was more at stake than the mere matter of influencing a few young men in the city of New York. The grand work he has since accomplished im- pressively confirms the position he then held. I am sure I am not the only one here who feels personally indebted. We all realize that we have long since come to the end of the period when the work of the Young Men's Chris- tian Association is to be regarded as an experiment. Young men trained in our work, and educated on our committees, are everywhere taking the places of highest responsibility. Under- lying principles and methods of work have been, one after an- other, formulated by the cool brains and warm hearts of our International Committee. Everything has been carefully, wisely, and well thought out, and then successfully carried into practical operation, under the guiding hand of its Chair- man. We know he has taken time for our cause that might most profitably have been spent to his personal interest, but surely he will receive his reward. I know what a great pleas- ure it is for us to tell him tonight how much we love and honor him for the great service he has rendered." Mr. Brainerd spoke in part as follows: "My connection with the Committee was due to a sort of accident — let me confidentially tell you about it. In 1866 some members of the appropriate committee of the Albany Conven- tion proposed me as one of the members of the Executive Com- mittee then to be organized. Objection was made, founded no doubt upon my pronounced views in regard to the work which the Young Men's Christian Associations ought to per- form, and it was said that the Committee might not be ac- ceptable to the Associations over the country, if my name were placed upon it. Those who suggested my name yielded properly to that consideration, and it was omitted from the Committee appointed. The first meeting was at 2^ Wall Street. Every appointee was present save one, who sent in a declination, and I was selected to fill the vacancy occasioned by his withdrawal. It was our chairman (Mr. Dodge) who declined to accept the appointment, and he is therefore re- sponsible, so far as I am concerned, for all that has taken place upon the Committee which may popularly be ascribed to me, and, of course, for the gathering this evening. I may not take to myself what has been said in regard to leadership in the work of the Association upon this continent, 284 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN and in the world. It belongs to the Committee whose Chair- man I have been for so many years, and to the friends who have sympathized with, cooperated with, and supported it these many years — supported it not by advice only, not by personal effort only, not by money only, but by all three com- bined. That leadership has not been due, by any means, wholly to the wisdom, real or supposed, of the indi- vidual members of the Committee. It is indisputably true, however, that the Committee has been the leader under God in the development of the Association all these long years. This, however, did not come about because any individual member knew all that was required, suggested all the advance movements, or devised all the means for bringing them about. It is due to the facts that through the correspondence of the Committee, through its Secretaries, and through its friends all over the land, the Committee sought to gain, and did gain, the best views of the most efficient and devoted men in the lead in this work in every state in the Union, and when thus gained, it was the aim of the Committee, acting collectively, to put these views into effective practical operation. We never had opinions and plans of our own to force upon the Associations, when, after careful consideration and frank conference, it appeared that there were better views and better plans to be advocated. In the Committee itself there was always careful and candid discussion; there was no sparing of persons; there was no failure to expose weakness — ^but there was never a quarrel. Indeed the Committee in its administration during all this period of twenty-five years, representing, as it sought to do, the views of the Conventions and the Associations, met with but four instances of serious opposition. In each of these cases in a short time, after frank and thorough conference, the opposition disappeared. So far as the meetings of the Com- mittee are concerned there have been no acrimonious disputes, no harsh discussions, and, if my recollection is not sadly at fault, only two test votes, though the meetings have been fre- quent and the topics discussed numerous and important. It must not be understood, however, that the members of the Committee lacked persistence, determination, or conviction; but they were able always to meet finally upon a common ground, because the leading purpose which actuated every friend of the Committee and every one of its members was to accomplish in the Associations that which was for the best interests of the young men of the country." THE PROBLEM OP THE CHAIRMANSHIP 285 At the close of the evening, in response to the request of Mr. Dodge, I said: "Of the work with which these twenty-five years of adminis- tration have been identified — ^the work of supervision and ex- tension of the American Young Men's Christian Associations — its merits and importance, I would gladly say a few words. Both Mr. Boies and Mr. McBurney have referred to the chaotic condition in which the Committee and its Chairman twenty- five years ago found the Association work. The problems met were varied and difiacult. Even the distinctive function of the Association was imperfectly understood. Aside from this it would be easy to indicate, if there were time, the inherent need the Associations show, in every department, of that super- vision, to the careful, patient exercise of which Mr. Brainerd so successfully devoted himself — a supervision which grasped clearly and held firmly the distinctive purpose of the organi- zation, and which had grit as well as wisdom and forecast in it. Only as they continue to command such supervision will the Associations successfully carry out the work they have been raised up to accomplish. When this century began, the condition of our country had some resemblance to that of the Associations in the early period of their history. The thirteen states, only recently united in a general government, lacked coherence and national unity. During the first thirty years of the century, while Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and the younger Adams succeeded one another in the presidency, one man more remarkable and influential held office uninterruptedly. During this entire formative period of the nation's history he remained at the head of the judiciary department of the government. He was aware of the various conflicting forces, or centrifugal tenden- cies toward emphasis on state rights and state sovereignty, and of the centripetal influences exerted all too feebly in favor of a dominant union and nation. Like Edmund Burke, with genuine statesman-like discernment, he believed in carrying the weight of his reasons and influence to that side of the ship of state which had need of them to maintain a safe equipoise. Steadily during all those formative years the great chief jus- tice, John Marshall, as issue after issue came before him for decision, exerted his influence on the side of the union and the nation. And a little later when Daniel Webster ap- pealed to the public sentiment in favor of liberty and union as one and inseparable, the response of the people gave wit- ness to how effectively the work of the chief justice had been performed. Years afterward, when a confederacy was organ- ized and armies were marshaled to overthrow that work, it was found that the chief justice had builded on the rock and 286 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN of the rock, and that the structure stood four square against every wind of disloyalty. It seems to me we have with us as our guest tonight the great chief justice of our American Associations. During his long term of twenty-five years, as head of the agency of super- vision, he has stood for and maintained the structural idea of the Association. Every genuinely North American organi- zation like ours, popular and representative in its character, and reaching out for an affiliation over the United States and Canada, must correspond in its experience and framework with the experience and framework of our representative govern- ment. When Mr. Brainerd took office the Association was feeling its way toward a definition of its great single purpose. There were many conflicting opinions. The societies were isolated from one another. Centrifugal forces predominated. Our chief justice at the helm discerned clearly the situation, seized strongly and stated clearly the fundamental purpose of the organization, and carried the whole weight of his official in- fluence toward promoting the solidarity of the Association and building up the agency of supervision and extension which was indispensable to the best welfare of the brotherhood. We are coming to times of trial and emergency as the Asso- ciations multiply their numbers and usefulness. We may need a Webster and a Lincoln. But if the Associations and their leaders are successful in the future, it will be because of the good foundation work of our chief justice in the twenty-five years of his faithful, patient, unobtrusive administration. What he has done has insured us guiding precedent and light- house warning of shoal and sunken rock on which otherwise we might make shipwreck. Over a hundred years ago, about this season of the year 1801, the elder Adams was preparing to leave the national capital, sadly disappointed at his non-election to the presidency for a second term. One of his last official acts, near the very close of his administration, was the appointment of John Marshall to be chief justice. He little dreamed in those days so dark to him, with what an enduring beacon he was bright- ening the future of his country. In the light of our history since then are we not right in thinking that we owe that critical and important appointment less to the wisdom and foresight of President and Senate than to the gracious guid- ance of a divine overruling Providence? Certainly we all feel tonight concerning our guest and his long term of invaluable service, that he has been the gift and messenger to us, and all his associates, of Him in whose name and for whose enthrone- ment in the hearts of young men this whole work from the beginning has been established and conducted." THE PROBLEM OF THE CHAIRMANSHIP 287 Term of Elbert B. Monroe as Chairman 1892-1894 The loss of its Chairman was not the only bereavement suffered by the Committee in this difficult year. With him the senior member and Vice-Chairman, James Stokes, also with- drew to the Advisory Board. Early in the autumn the Treas- urer, Benjamin C. Wetmore, after serving as chairman for a few months, resigned and was not available even as an ad- visory member. Thus, of the four members of longest and most responsible service, three almost simultaneously had withdrawn. McBurney's continuing sympathy and coopera- tion seemed more indispensable than ever, and for this trying time both were generously given and were invaluable in mak- ing our choice of a new Chairman. Among the advisory members there was an ex-president of the New York Association, who in that office had served two terms, of which the second was due to his having suggested and led in creating the metropolitan organization. My own intercourse with him had become intimate ever since our fel- lowship in connection with his gift of Dwight Hall to the Yale Association.^ Elbert B. Monroe also himself fully appre- ciated the critical character of the situation, and when the unanimous choice of the Committee was presented to him by McBurney and myself, he consented to serve, and entered upon the office in December, 1892, six months before the Inter- national Convention of 1893 was to meet in Indianapolis. After fourteen months of uncertainty we rejoiced in such a solution of this difficult problem as yielded expectation of a long and efficient administration — a hope and promise in which we were to be sadly disappointed. McBurney had joined heartily in seeking and finding the new Chairman, confidently expecting that this would open for him the path to withdrawal from an active connection with the Committee which had become an overtax upon his strength. Against such a step on his part, however, he encountered an effective protest from the friend upon whom he had urged the chairmanship. Kelease from some of the burdens he was > Pp. 333-7. 288 IVTY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN carrying was eagerly proffered, and his connection with the Committee was continued for a season. During this period of transition and financial retrenchment one diificult problem had been solved. With equal promptness an acceptable Treasurer was secured by the election to that office of Frederick B. Schenck, who was then cashier, and a few years later became president of the Mercantile National Bank, and afterward of the Liberty Bank. For ten years (1889-1898) he was president of the Brooklyn Association, and had been elected a member of the Committee by the Con- vention of 1891. He continued the Committee's trusted and efficient Treasurer for over twenty years, until his death in 1913. During his tenure of office the annual expenditure in- creased from $75,000 on the home and |12,700 on the foreign field, to $362,826 on the home and $353,237 on the foreign field. He was deeply interested in all departments of the work, and served with fidelity on the Finance, Foreign Work, and Executive Committees. Beginning of a Business Man's Administration Only a Chairman as masterful as Cephas Brainerd would have carried as long as he did so much of the responsibility of a work which was developing steadily a growing variety of many branches or departments. But even he had begun to yield to a brotherly pressure from his associates, and before the close of his administration he distributed some part of his burden to sub-committees. His position as Chairman he felt obligated him to seek a commanding relation to every department of the Committee's activity. And he believed every International Secretary should seek and acquire capacity to serve — to use his own term — "as an all-round Secretary." Departmental Secretaries should seek such capacity. For thirteen years Weidensall was known in the Year Book as "Western Secretary." The emphasis of his work was at the West. This continued after 1882, but after that date the Chairman preferred that the term Western should be dropped, to give emphasis to the fact that Weidensall was not wholly confined to that section. With the Railroad, College, and other Secretaries this policy was attempted and the single title of Secretary was used when a THE PROBLEM OF THE CHAIRMANSHIP 289 departmental title could have been employed. This policy had had its advantages. But work .and workers were coming into an era of greater specialization, owing to the variety of ac- tivities developed within the Association Movement and in the decade following Braiuerd's resignation the Educational, the Army and Navy, the Boys', and the County Work Secre- taries were to appear. In 1883 the Convention, in adopting the Act of Incorpora- tion, added to the working quorum in New York a group of younger men. In 1885 the Chairman appointed two of these — Henry H. Webster and Cleveland H. Dodge — a sub-committee on the College Work. Of Henry Webster, who died in Janu- ary, 1891, in the thirty-eighth year of his age, McBurney wrote: "In his departure the New York Association met with the severest loss it has ever sustained in its religious work." This was equally true of him in his relation to the work of the International Committee. Cleveland H. Dodge succeeded him as chairman of the Student Work and it was at this time (1891) that William D. Murray, then president of the Plain- field Association and a member of the New Jersey Committee, accepted an election to the International Committee and be- came an associate of Mr. Dodge in the College Work. Both continued to give devoted eflflcient life service to this work and its remarkable staff and development, on both the home and foreign field. The college sub-committee at the beginning of its service (1885) had on its staff as College Secretaries, Luther D. Wish- ard, College Secretary since 1877, and a recent associate, Charles K. Ober. In 1888 Wishard set out on his long world tour (1888-1892) and John R. Mott joined Ober upon the col- lege staff. In 1890 Ober yielded to an urgent call to super- vision of City and State Work, and Mott became chief Student Secretary. With him were associated J. Campbell White in 1890 and Fletcher S. Brockman in August of the following year. Ever since the beginning of the Committee's Railroad De- partment, the Chairman had placed the three successive Rail- road Secretaries, Edwin D. IngersoU, 1877, H. F. Williams, 1886-1889, and Clarence J. Hicks, 1889-1892, in a reporting and counseling relation to Cornelius Vanderbilt as the mem- 290 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN ber of the Committee specially interested in the Bailroad Work. In the last days of Brainerd's administration an Educa- tional Department was being planned. Frederick B. Pratt had become a member of the Committee and was appointed chairman of a sub-committee responsible to find an Educa- tional Secretary. This beginning of a distribution of respon- sibility and supervision to members of the Committee was made by Brainerd during his administration (1867-1892). In this period the Committee had grown from a membership of five, all resident in New York City and vicinity, to a Com- mittee of forty voting and eleven advisory members, with a Board of fifteen Trustees. From among these the working quorum resident in New York City was composed of sixteen members and ten Trustees. During its first two years the Committee had no employed oflScers. Beginning with Robert Weidensall in 1868 and my- self in 1869, it was employing in 1892 a staflf of twenty-two Secretaries distributed among seven departments on the home field, with five Secretaries on the foreign field — in Japan, India, and South America. To its first Convention (1867) at the end of its first year it reported an expenditure of less than f 400.00, For the year of Brainerd's retirement (1892) the annual expenditure on the home field was |65,877 and on the foreign field $11,037. The time was ripe for a distribution of Committee members to a larger number of departments and sub-committees. A good beginning in this direction was promptly accomplished by the new Chairman, with business-like eflSciency. Of both the Physical and Educational Departments Frederick B. Pratt became chairman. George B. Hodge was secured by Mr. Pratt's agency as Educational Secretary. A gradual develop- ment of the Field Department by Charles K. Ober was encour- aged. One of the junior members of the Committee, Kichard M. Colgate, was appointed chairman and Cephas Brainerd, Jr., elected upon his father's retirement, became a member of this sub-committee and served acceptably until his lamented death the following year. In this year also Alfred E. Marling, from boyhood identified with the work in the Twenty-third Street Branch, and now THE PROBLEM OF THE CHAIRMANSHIP 291 the very capable chairman of the Branch, accepted an election to the Committee and began to be identified with the growth of the Field Department. As early as 1891 C. K. Ober had removed his residence to Atlanta and in the following year enlisted as his associate Hans P. Andersen. Leaving his asso- ciate to remain in that section, he went to the southwest, securing for that district in 1893 a second associate, Cecil L. Gates. He was able himself to remove to Chicago and in 1894 to obtain for the northwest Charles S. Ward as a third asso- ciate, with headquarters in Minneapolis. In the following year he secured his fourth associate in William B. Millar, for the eastern section, with headquarters in New York City, where he had been the efficient secretary of the Twenty-third Street Branch. In 1893, at the suggestion of Cornelius Vanderbilt, Charles F. Cox, a leading official of the New York Central Eailroad, joined him as a member of the Committee for the Eailroad Department. This distribution of departmental responsi- bilities to the members of the Committee was accomplished with wisdom and energy. It met with hearty cooperation from the departmental Secretaries. The Convention of 1893 When the new administration was six months old, the Inter- national Convention of 1893 met in Indianapolis and felt the new impulse given to the development of the International Work. The Chairman presented the report of the Committee with its note of forward movement, and the new Educational Secretary brought an excellent exhibit of that department. It was an outstanding feature of the proceedings, the beginning by a masterly hand of a method of presenting the values of Association work destined to a most useful development by Secretary Hodge. Henry M. Moore, a Boston member of the Committee, was not the only delegate who, at the close of the Convention, came to me with the hearty assurance that the Committee had made no mistake in their choice of a new Chairman. Robert Weidensall, Already Honored, Becomes Honorary At this time Eobert Weidensall, like Eobert McBurney, was 292 MY LIFE WITH YOUJSTG MEN experiencing painfully the effects of overwork. He urged and insisted on the acceptance of his resignation. Under protest Committee and Convention accepted it, to take effect in Octo- ber, 1893, at the close of the twenty-fifth year of his secretary- ship. This decision was reached by him, not because of temporary disability nor with any thought of giving up his work, but because of his noble desire to occupy the years of mortal life remaining to him with the work of the Committee and the brotherhood as a volunteer layman, oflScer, and leader. In point of fact he was resigning only the salary that he was receiving, accepting a nominal stipend that he might continue in the blessed fellowship in which he ranked as the beloved senior of us all. So he continues until today, entering in October, 1917, the jubilee year of his unexampled service. As early as 1873 he began to plant the Association in the rural field, but since his resignation he has succeeded as "Father of the County Work and Secretaryship" in enlisting men for this ofiBce. Thus he has given leadership, permanence, and extension to Association work among the young men who are located in smaller cities, towns, and country neighbor- hoods, and who still constitute the majority of the young men on the continent. In his irrepressible enthusiasm, he cherishes the hope of achieving another new departure, outranking, he says, any he has hitherto pioneered. Our own fellowship as a pair of seniors continues to grow in tenderness as well as in years and we are looking forward to the celebration in 1919 of a jubilee of brotherly cooperation! With the encouragment of all his fellow Secretaries, at the age of seventy-one he completed a remarkable world tour of the Associations — more complete in the number of countries and Associations visited than anyi single world journey yet accomplished by an Association leader. Everywhere he re- ceived a warm welcome — especially in the Orient, where his age and the veteran quality of his message commanded a peculiar respect and affection. To the Convention of 1893 Chairman Monroe announced that among the 149 pamphlets and other publications of the Committee was now to be found the recently issued Hand Book THE PROBLEM OF THE CHAIRMANSHIP 293 of 480 octavo pages, carefully edited by Secretaries Uhl, Ninde, and Glover and containing in one volume summary account of the "history, organization, and methods of work" of the Association. The task of the editors had been to condense and classify, under this title, what in many pamphlets during a period of many years had been published by the Committee. The value of it was increased and the distribution of its con- tents promoted by the issue of its difiEerent chapters in sepa- rate pamphlet form. The Death of Elbert B. Monroe The year 1894 was the year of Jubilee of the parent English speaking Association and was to be signalized in London by the meeting there of the World's Conference as the guest of that Association. Our new Chairman was preparing to go with a larger delegation from North America than had ever attended one of these conferences. It was the second year of an administration of the International Work which was giving bright promise of growing efSciency in every depart- ment. Within a few weeks of our departure for London with Mr. and Mrs. Monroe and Robert McBurney, on the evening of April 21st, there came to our home a sad telegram from Mrs. Monroe announcing the sudden death of her husband in the flash of a stroke of heart failure. It was a shock the depress- ing influence of which I can never forget. The telegram con- tained an urgent request from Mrs. Monroe that Mrs. Morse and I would come to their home immediately. In ten minutes we were on our way to pass through one of the most sorrowful experiences of our lives. It was the sudden ending of a con- genial friendship which for years had been growing in strength and intimacy. For the past two years a delightful consum- mation had been granted us in our brotherly cooperation as Chairman and General Secretary. In one of his Association addresses, Mr. Monroe had been asked to define the ideal rela- tion which should exist between the president and the execu- tive Secretary of an Association. With fine discrimination he defined it as "a David and Jonathan relationship — one of perfect, unalloyed mutual confidence." It was this beautiful satisfying relation which had been realized between us. The 294 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN loss of his counsel, influence, and leadership was very widely felt in the sphere of Christian work at home and abroad, but probably the bereavement was nowhere felt so seriously as within the circle of his associates in the International Com- mittee and its staff of Secretaries. We have been greatly blessed in our home life in the continuance of the warm friend- ship of Mrs. Monroe, who has remained also the close friend of the work her husband laid down and has been a welcome guest at the annual meetings of the Committee and its Secre- taries. The problem of the chairmanship had been solved most satisfyingly. But the solution had been only a temporary one. A Second Search for a Chairman Mr. Monroe's tenure of oflSce had been brief, less than two years in duration. His administration, however, was a vigor- ous one. It decisively outlined a definite and wise policy in a manner helpful to his successors in office. In seeking a new Chairman, McBurney's aid as counselor was heartily wel- comed. It was, practically, a last service from him, for he could not consistently consent to be part of another adminis- tration. From the beginning of the Committee's work in 1866 he had been deeply and actively interested in every extension of it. And now in leaving because of failing strength, his chief regret was that he could not continue longer as Chairman of the Foreign Work, one of the latest and the most promising of these many extensions. Cleveland H. Dodge also at this time joined him in with- drawing to the advisory membership. This double loss pro- longed the period of sore bereavement through which I was passing. Within the Committee there was anxious delibera- tion. Should one of the older or one of the younger men be chosen? Among the seniors Mr. Schenck, the Treasurer, was approached. He was sympathetic and, as always, willing to give what was within his power of time, effort, and leadership. But on sober second thought he was convinced that in his position as cashier of a bank he had not enough command of his time to undertake the office. Among the younger men on the Committee the outstanding choice was Cleveland H. Dodge, the very capable president of THE PROBLEM OF THE CHAIRMANSHIP 295 the New York Association and the head of our Student Work. But his retirement and McBurney's conviction that the officers and friends of that Association, including himself, were already overtaxed by the International Committee and its work, prevented this satisfactory solution of our problem. This situation recalled vividly the similar one of 1866 when the Convention in creating the Committee named the father of Cleveland Dodge as its Chairman, a position he felt obliged to decline because of his commanding and absorbing work as President of the New York Association and leader of the canvass for its first building. Frederick B. Pratt, the head of Pratt Institute, was already the capable chairman of two sub-committees, and a Director of the Brooklyn Association. In the judgment of all of us he was possessed of the needed qualifications, but would only consent to make trial of the oflflce for one year, as an emer- gency Chairman. His entrance upon this conditional term was heartily agreed to, and into the purpose and plan of his prede- cessor he cordially entered, continuing to place increasing responsibility on sub-committees, and upon the chief Secretary of each department. A Beenforcement of Committeemen In this period of loss and crises the depleted membership of the Committee was repaired by the reception of welcome members. Among them were William D. Murray, afterward Vice-Chairman, and now (1917) for twenty-five years an active member on several committees; Dr. Lucien C. Warner — for fifteen years Chairman; Alfred E. Marling, for fifteen years Vice-chairman and now in the seventh year of his remarkable chairmanship; Colonel John J. McCook, who succeeded Cor- nelius Vanderbilt as Chairman of the Eailroad Committee. A few years later elections were accepted by William Sloane, now Vice-Chairman of the Committee, and chairman of the National War Work Council of 1917, and Dr. John P. Munn, who succeeded Colonel McCook as head of the Railroad De- partment. By such timely reenforcements the membership of the Com- mittee was strengthened and the strong leadership of its first period was continued as Dr. D. H. McAlpin became Chairman 296 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN of the Rural and Wm. Jay Schiefifelin of the Colored Work, Marcellus Hartley Dodge and John Sherman Hoyt of the Industrial, Eoger H. Williams of the Student, and N. W. Ayer and Wilfred W. Fry of the Boys' Work. Early in this interesting period (1893) the Committee began to hold its annual meeting with its Secretaries, now twenty in number, in September at the opening of the working season. For ten years preceding this, it had been held toward the close of the fiscal and calendar year near the date of the anniversary dinner. The change made a longer session and deliberation practicable. It was in this period also that Secretary Mott brought to his immediate associates his intimate persuasive message con- cerning the morning watch and its sacred devout observance. Response to this message has proved an incalculable blessing to many of us closely associated with him and to a great multi- tude, who have been influenced by him through words written and printed, as well as spoken. The Problem of the Chairmanship Solved Soon after the Convention of 1895, at the close of his year as temporary Chairman, Frederick B. Pratt, after having become acquainted with the duties of the oflflce, reached the conclusion that consistently with his other responsibilities he could not accept the position. But he has continued to the present time his patient and effective Chairmanship of the Educational Committee and during its formative years ren- dered sterling service as Chairman of the Physical Depart- ment until this oflSce was with equal efficiency filled by his brother, George D. Pratt. A chairman was now sought for among the senior members of the Committee and the choice was not a diflBcult one. Since the withdrawal from the active membership in 1892, of Brainerd, Stokes, and Wetmore, and before the retirement of McBurney and Dodge, several new members as already mentioned had been added, chosen from among men of long experience in Association work. Of these Dr. Lucien C. Warner was a first choice of the Committee for its Chairman. Under his leadership the Harlem Branch of the New York Association had secured its building, and the work for young THE PROBLEM OF THE CHAIRMANSHIP 297 men in that section of the city had been strongly established. For many years he had been prominently identified with the work of the New York State Committee, and was experienced in the various phases of Association supervision. During Monroe's administration, Dr. Warner had been in full sym- pathy with its plan and purpose, and in September, 1895, he was unanimously chosen his successor. Like Monroe, he was a man of fine business capacity and a trusted leader in his own church and denomination, and his election was in accord with Association loyalty to the churches. During his administration of fifteen years — 1895-1911 — the work of the Committee kept pace in its enlargement with the remarkable growth of the North American Associations in the dimensions and variety of their work among young men of many classes. The annual expenditure for the home work increased from |63,000 to |301,000 and for the foreign work from $21,000 to |228,000. To provide this development of the Committee's work and its resources, a steady increase in the number of well selected Committee members and of equally well selected Secretaries was needed. The strong feature in the administrations of the three Chair- men (1892-1911) following Mr. Brainerd, was the growth of the departments and the distribution to each department sub- committee and its secretarial staff of responsibility for its development and support. The word department at that time included what are now (1916) termed councils and bureaus, viz., Secretarial, Physical, Educational, Industrial, Biblical, Evangelistic, Boys, Publication, Business, etc. This distribu- tion was steadily accomplished and accepted by chairmen and sub-committee men. Strong leadership was given by the Secre- taries. By this method to each department and its chief Secre- tary an opportunity was opened to make progress on the same lines of self-support and enlargement on which in Bramerd's administration the whole work of the Committee and of its General Secretary had been steadily enlarged. Many hard questions and diflScult problems were encoun- tered in dealing with successive Conventions. An important controversy was encountered and settled satisfactorily. In everv emergency Dr. Warner proved himself a wise, thought- ful safe leader, patient with diflaculties, guided by the sound 298 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN common sense of a strong, successful man of business and an earnest, devout Christian worker. A Surprising Episode A very delightful surprise, of a personal nature, came to me on the afternoon of February 20, 1895. While I was at work in my home office, Cleveland H. Dodge called to ask me to attend with him an important committee meeting at the Twenty-third Street building, expressing regret that no notice of it had reached me. Thinking that the meeting must in some way relate to the theme of some recent discussions we had had regarding the growth of the International Work, I assented. On reaching the Association parlor we found Chairman Pratt presiding at the meeting, and I was asked to take a seat by him. I recognized the rather unusual presence at a com- mittee meeting of Cephas Brainerd, Morris K. Jesup, Corne- lius Vanderbilt, Henry M. Moore of Boston, Mrs. Frederick Billings, and other friends. Mrs. Morse, who for several months past had been confined to the house, was there in the care of her doctor and with her father. My older brother, Sidney E. Morse, also was present. This was certainly a sur- prising gathering for a committee meeting ! Robert McBurney, though a chief promoter, as usual was not in the limelight. The Chairman, however, quickly enlightened me with the information that the gathering was occasioned by the fact that I had recently completed, in December, the twenty-fifth year of my connection with the International Committee, and that these friends had come to congratulate me. I then began to see the fine but hidden hand of Eobert McBurney in this transaction. In succession Messrs. Jesup, Vanderbilt, Moore, and Brainerd spoke in friendly fashion of what they conceived to be the valuable service I had rendered in this work for young men. In making mention of what he considered my excellent qualities, Mr. Brainerd made more extended remarks than the others, commenting especially upon a "diplomatic ability," of which he believed I was possessed, and which he "deemed of sufficient excellence to qualify me for any important position in the diplomatic service of our country." THE PROBLEM OP THE CHAIRMANSHIP 299 The last speaker was Cleveland H. Dodge, who expressed regret for the unavoidable absence of his father, in whose name, as well as in his own, he expressed friendship and appre- ciation. As commentary on what he and the other speakers had said, and as an expression of the regard cherished for me by many friends, he presented me with a generous and sub- stantial reminder of this commemoration. The response ex- pected from me was naturally as inadequate as the embarrass- ment of the moment was genuine. Personal congratulations followed, and then Mrs. Morse and I went to our home together, very happy over the delight- ful "committee meeting" and grateful to God and to His mes- senger, our beloved friend, for this token of an ever thoughtful, unfailing, and true affection. CHAPTER XV TWO IMPORTANT CONVERSATIONS With John R. Mott 1895 The Student Volunteer and Bible study message which Kynaston Studd, on his wedding journey in 1885, brought to the International Secretaries at Northfleld, and then through them to our College Associations, was the beginning of an intercourse between the Christian students of both continents. This transatlantic intercourse was steadily fostered at the Northfleld Conference and resulted in visits to European uni- versities by Reynolds and Wishard, and then in 1894 in the stronger leadership of John R. Mott. Studd's strong personal message, without suggestion as to organization, was helpful to our Student Work and was the forerunner of the stronger message brought to us, two or three years later, from Scotland by Henry Drummond. In his flrst visit to Europe in 1891, Mott came into intimate touch with Christian representatives of univejfsities of several countries. The first organization, resulting especially from the work of Robert P. Wilder, was the formation in Great Britain of its Student Volunteer Missionary Union, with Donald Eraser as a visiting, promoting, and organizing Secretary. The invita- tion of this Union to Mott, as a Student Volunteer leader, gave to him in 1894 an opportunity to visit ofiflcially some of the British universities, to bring a message to delegates from these universities in the Student Conference at Keswick and to promote the formation by them of the "British College Chris- tian Union," since then reorganized and known as the Student Christian Movement of Great Britain. As of first importance, he also promoted the securing of Donald Eraser, for a year, as the salaried visiting and organiz- ing Secretary of the new movement. Then the brief address 300 TWO IMPORTANT CONVERSATIONS 301 he made on the Student Work at the Jubilee World's Confer- ence in London was so impressive as to prompt Prince Berna- dotte to invite him to meet— during the summer of 1895— with the students of the Scandinavian universities. Similar invitations were extended to him to attend, during the same summer, conferences of Christian students in Great Britain, Germany, and Switzerland. He was also assured of a welcome from workers among students in India and Japan. Later, when word came to missionaries in the Levant and China that a world tour by him was becoming practicable, he was urged to visit workers among students in these lands. A World Journey Planned The project and promise of this world journey, in the in- terests of a World Student Movement and organization, were ardently shared with Mott by Luther Wishard, his senior in Student Work, who also had preceded him in a world journey. Wishard was now at the home base as Secretary for the Foreign Work of the International Committee. The Secre- taries to whom he was related, in India, China, and Japan, had stimulated some of the six invitations Mott had received, and they promised to be among his strongest helpers on his student errand in those countries. It was the plan of Mott to bring together at the student meeting in Sweden, during August, 1895, representatives from as many countries as possible, beginning with the United States and Canada, and the Student Movements of Britain, Germany, and Scandinavia. If the number of countries repre- sented, and the wishes of the delegates favored it, a World's Federation of Christian Students was to be formed. Mott would then continue his journey around the world and Wish- ard would visit South Africa, before returning to his work at home. The beginning of this arrangement was duly reported by the Committee to the Convention of 1895 at Springfield, Massachusetts. Wishard's recent experience in his world journey of three years, Mott's more recent and successful work in Europe, and my own experience in the World's Conferences, led us to feel a growing confidence in what could be accomplished around the world on the lines of Association work, by American sug- 303 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN gestion and initiative. In hearty sympathy with this project of my junior associates, I only regretted that it was not pos- sible to go with them at least as far as Sweden, but I joined them earnestly in seeking and securing leave of absence from the Committee, and also rendered such help as I could on the two special funds needed to provide — entirely outside of the Committee's treasury — for the two journeys. As the treasurer of both funds, I ofifered also all possible cooperation during their absence with their associates and representatives. The Committee granted Mott leave of absence, expecting that on his return he would continue as its chief Student Secretary — an expectation strengthened by the fact that this office carried with it at that time his chairmanship of the Student Volunteer Movement. The Object of the Conversation It was a critical turning-point at which he was arriving in the remarkable career manifestly before him, and I was persuaded that in him the Committee had an employed officer not only twenty-five years younger than their General Secre- tary, but one with more ability to serve in that office in rela- tion to a work already large, but destined to a remarkable and rapid growth, both at home and abroad. For seven years he had been on the student stafiE of the Committee, and for five of these at the head of its Student Department, and his qualities of strong, unexampled leadership in this department were apparent to his immediate associates. In handling the Student Volunteer Movement, and its first two conventions — of which the second one in 1894 was the stronger — ^both he and Robert E. Speer had become widely and favorably known. To both of these conventions more undergraduates had come than to any other undergraduate student convention called together for serious discussion. Here they were summoned to a great undertaking commanding enthusiastic, sacrificial enlistment for life. On the other hand, in regard to my own continuance in office, I realized that on Mott's return in 1897 I would reach the age of fifty-six. For years, to both McBurney and myself, tarrying in office beyond the age of sixty without a junior associate fully qualified for the positions we held, had seemed TWO IMPORTANT CONVERSATIONS 303 very hazardous. The solution of my problem was to find for the Committee a man of whose capacity to care for the whole work they could be satisfied, but before Mott no such Secre- tary had appeared on the staff. These convictions led to an interview with him on the Northfleld campus toward the close of the Conference of 1895, when he was on the eve of setting out on this world journey. Presenting to him the situation from my point of view, I asked whether he could favorably consider undertaking, on his return in 1897, the General Secretaryship. In such an event, if it was desired, I was willing to continue as a fellow Secre- tary, working as strenuously as heretofore, in relation to the various phases of Association supervision, as he should have occasion to need such help. No thought was in my mind other than giving the remainder of my life and strength to such supervisory, or other Association service as I was best fitted for. Mott could not respond favorably to this appeal, because his obligations as a Student Volunteer seemed to him to forbid his acceptance of such a position. This attitude reminded me of how slow he had been, some years before, to give up going out upon the foreign field, when he had offered himself for a special work in India and when he was led to remain in the interest of developing further the missionary side of the Move- ment. Indeed, during that period of the early Volunteer Con- ventions, among the growing band of Volunteers, confident hope and expectation were often quietly but strongly ex- pressed, that a final permanent settlement upon some section of the foreign field would be accomplished by both Mott and Speer — the most able and conspicuous among Student Volun- teers, yet both "detained at the home base." I did not at all share this feeling, for both experience and observation had convinced me that there is a class of so-called "hindered volunteers" who, by serving oflScially at the home base, accomplish far more for the work on the foreign field than they could possibly accomplish by spending their own lives in foreign lands. Although the interview. ended without immediate favorable reply from him, I cherished the hope that on his return, with further light on his path, a different final decision might be 304 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN reached. Upon his return in 1897 while all I had asked was not granted, gradually what was continuing of my relations to Northfield and to the Student and Foreign Work of the Committee began to pass over completely to him. To the Student Volunteer Movement was added the leadership of the World's Student Christian Federation. The time for a more favorable response — the time in the divine plan for him — ^had not yet come. Such calls as had come and were coming to him from his own and other universities, from Moody, President Harper, and from the foreign mission field, did not prevail upon him to leave the path in which he was accomplish- ing so much in Association work both at home and abroad. In this year the problem of the chairmanship, after pro- tracted uncertainty (1892-95), had been solved so satisfac- torily that no period of doubt concerning that important office has since been experienced by the Committee. But in the light of what followed it, this conversation might be called the beginning of a more protracted solution of the problem of the General Secretaryship. For it prepared the way, as this nar- rative will disclose, for what proved to be for some years a partial solution of the problem and then, out of an experience of a decade or more, in the fulness of time the final satisfying solution was secured. It was a long period not of patient waiting, but of patient, strenuous activity and leadership toward the goal of my hope and prayer. One quiet but most critically important achievement of Mott upon his return was his successful effort (1900) to induce Cleveland H. Dodge to resume his active membership in the Committee. By his retirement to the Advisory Board in 1895 the Committee had experienced a great loss, especially in its intercollegiate work. Mr. Dodge had been identified with this work at its origin as an undergraduate, and on the sub-com- mittee of the Student Department he had served since its appointment. It would be difflcult to exaggerate the vital importance to the Association's world message and mission, of this recovery of an indispensable helper and leader. He returned not only to the Chairmanship of the Committee's Student Department, but to a virile relation to all that vitally concerned the best interests and efficiency of Association work for young men and boys throughout the world. TWO IMPORTANT CONVERSATIONS 305 With Robert K. McBurnby 1896 A year later, in the autumn of 1896, there took place another interview, really of several days' duration, which I often recall, and always with devout gratitude. The withdrawal of McBurney in 1895 from the active to the advisory membership of the Committee had been and continued a source of painful regret. The regret was inevitable and was submitted to cheer- fully because his physical condition demanded such with- drawal, but the pain was occasioned by the other reason which had weighed with him in his decision: his convictions (1) that the International Work was growing, under excessive promo- tion of it, beyond what was desirable or necessary, and that (2) a growth of the State Work of supervision could take the place of the proposed development of the International Work. He knew that my belief was that these agencies of supervision should grow together, and that I felt obligated to continue to promote growth in this twofold direction. Until his last illness our offices at 40 East 23rd Street (1887- 1898) were in the same small building and all the Interna- tional Secretaries were his personal friends. He was a wise counselor, incessantly resorted to by them. This intercourse was not interrupted by his ceasing to attend International Committee meetings and at the three-day annual meetings of the Committee with its Secretaries, held each September, he was a welcome and valued guest whenever he could come. At the same time, equally intimate was his intercourse with State Secretaries George A. Hall and Fred S. Goodman, of the New York Committee. With their work, which ranked with the best state supervision, he was strongly identified, as the most influential member of the New York Committee. The headquarters were at Poughkeepsie, the home of the Chairman, Edmund P. Piatt. In New York City, McBurney's office and his tower room were the resort of the State Secretaries. Thus he kept in intimate touch with both agencies of supervision and their secretarial force. First Meetings of the Committee with Its Staff The annual meeting of the Committee with all its Secre- 306 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN taries began in a dinner meeting held in McBurney's tower room in December, 1882. In 1884, and several succeeding years, the Secretaries, on coming to the city for the annual dinner, spent the day in our home at 139 East 18th Street. There were then only ten Secretaries on the staff, and for some years only these and McBurney were invited. The morning and afternoon were spent in our parlor and library on the second floor, going over each man's work for the year past, and the program of his department for the coming year. Luncheon was a time of great sociability and enjoyment, for Mrs. Morse insisted that we must not "talk shop," but have a good time together at the table. On one occasion the ques- tion was raised as to how many and what denominations were represented. It was suggested that we should guess the church to which each man belonged, and several amusing mistakes were made — indeed there were few correct guesses. As Secretaries were added to the staff, the company became in time too numerous to be accommodated in our small home, and with great reluctance we were obliged, when the number passed fourteen, to give up having them there. The meeting became too important in its relation to the work to be confined to Secretaries, or to be held so far on in the working year as the date of the annual December dinner, which in its turn was rapidly growing in the attendance of guests of the Com- mittee. In its ninth year — 1893 — ^it was entitled the "annual setting-up meeting of the Committee and all its Secretaries," and the date was changed to early in September, at the open- ing of the working year. For some time after this change, very few of the members of the Committee attended this meeting. In 1896 we met at New London, when we numbered twenty-eight Secretaries. Our friend and comrade — McBurney — was the only Commit- teeman present. He had been the previous year at Pough- keepsie, where the meeting was held, and during the three days had been in every session. The reports of progress were encouraging, but during the financial depression since the crash of 1893, retrenchment had been the rule in adopting the annual budget. Now in 1896 there was an irresistible demand for an increase which must stop retrenchment. During the intervals of our sessions, he expressed hearty TWO IMPORTANT CONVERSATIONS 307 sympathy with the Secretaries in their problems and plans. After the last session, as he and I walked home to the hotel, along the shore of the bay, taking my arm in frank brotherly fashion, he confessed to seeing and understanding the reason- ableness of the urgency for extension, to which I was yielding as General Secretary. On the basis of this new, intelligent sympathy, and as an advisory member of the International Committee, he expressed agreement with this policy of expan- sion. And at the next International Convention, held in Mobile the following year — which was his last Convention — he manifested this conviction by joining in the plea for the new Bible-Study Department of the Committee's work, and was one of the ten subscribers of $250 each, to create the fund which was needed to support the new Secretary, whose em- ployment was authorized by the Convention. It was at this same New London conference that McBurney said to me : "Do you know you are promoting the International Work in such a way as to make it too dependent on yourself? If anything should happen to you, it could not be supported and continued as it is now manned and organized." Probably at that time there was too much truth in what he said, and I could only resort to a personal question or appeal: "Is the International Work any more dependent on me for its continu- ance and eflaciency, than the New York Association is on its General Secretary?" It then seemed to me that such depend- ence was equally true of himself in relation to the important office he had been holding for over thirty years. From an experience of twenty-six years, I could not then see how or when, as General Secretary, I could place on asso- ciates as much of the burden of first responsibility as they ought to bear. The attempts of a year previous, to enlist Mott, had apparently failed, and I could not then forecast how much of this and other burdens he would in reality undertake with- out being willing to receive the name of the office. So this interview with McBurney only strengthened the conviction which during the previous summer had led to my interview with Mott. The responsibilities carried by Brainerd as Chairman were being wisely distributed among Committeemen as the work was outgrowing its early dimensions. Similar distribution 308 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN to junior associates on the staflE was equally called for. These associates were steadily increasing in number as the work developed in the variety and number of its departments. To depute first responsibility wherever capacity to bear it de- veloped was of first importance. For the present, however, the departure of Mott and Wishard only increased my re- sponsibilities in relation to both the Student and Foreign sections of the Committee's work. CHAPTER XVI THE EVENTFUL YEAR OP 1898 The year 1898 was signalized by an unusual number of note- worthy events. Army and Navy Work The most prominent one was the outbreak in April of the war with Spain. This occasioned the immediate organization by the Committee, without any instruction from the Conven- tion, of a new,, and as it proved, a permanent department of its work. At once and until the close of the year that de- partment required a larger expenditure of money than any other, or than all the others combined. The new work was for the soldiers and sailors of the United States and was organized upon the lines of an excellent Asso- ciation summer tent work, already developed by State and Provincial Committees among soldiers of the militia or National Guard, in both Canada and the United States. It had been an endeavor of Association workers to give to sol- diers in these summer camps as much as possible of the Association fourfold work in the lines of reading, letter writing, and social, literary, musical, and religious exercises and meetings. The needed Association Secretary was pro- vided to make more accessible and attractive all these facilities, and to help create an effective opposition to the saloon and other demoralizing agencies which infest and infect a camp of soldiers. For many years ofiftcers and men of the militia had welcomed these Association tents and Secretaries, and gladly made their equipment an essential part of the summer camp's outfit. As soon therefore as President McKinley, upon the declara- tion of war, summoned to camp life two hundred thousand recruits, the International Committee, through one of its Sec- retaries, William B. Millar, sought and received authorization from the President and the Secretaries of War and of the 309 310 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Navy, to establish this form of Association work in camps among United States soldiers, and at naval posts among sailors. For William Millar this proved to be a call to arduous and ardent endeavor, for over a decade, in planting and develop- ing a permanent Association work among young men under arms. He has written the story of this achievement of strong sagacious leadership. He laid a sound enduring foundation for a permanent work. After he had withdrawn from it to lead another Christian undertaking, this Army and Navy work was destined to open to his able successor, John S. Tichenor, and other Association leaders an unparalleled opportunity to serve millions of young men in many nations — such an opportunity as a world war is now presenting and a world brotherhood is eagerly seeking to improve. There was an immediate call for over 200 Army and Navy Secretaries, and quick response was made by State Com- mittees, local Associations, and students at the Training Schools. Following the Association precedent of the Civil War, an Army and Navy Christian Commission of the In- ternational Committee was appointed, composed of members of the Committee and other prominent Christian citizens. Of this Commission the head of the Committee's Army and Navy Department, Colonel John J. McCook, was made Chairman. D. L. Moody became Chairman of the Evangelistic Committee. It was a work of such dimensions that its cost ($80,000) for the remaining fraction of the year was equal to that of all the other home work of the Committee for 1898. Some of the donors who were giving most to the work increased their gifts for this year three, four, and a few even five-fold. Miss Helen Miller Gould (now Mrs. Finley J. Shepard) in this emergency entered the list of friends and substantial supporters of the Committee's work and has continued in it ever since. Permanent Army and Navy Department The work of a few months among soldiers and sailors re- sulted in the creation of a permanent Army and Navy Depart- ment, with William B. Millar as its Secretary. This action of the Committee was duly submitted to the International Convention of 1899 at Grand Rapids in a session presided over by a new member of the International Committee, Rear Ad- THE EVENTFUL YEAR OF 1898 311 miral John N. Philip of the United States Navy, and met with enthusiastic approval. The expenditure annually called for by this new work of the Committee — while reduced below the sum needed in war time (1898)— was at first double that of any of the older depart- ments. Its Secretaries and equipment became thoroughly domesticated in both arms of the national service during the administrations of Presidents Roosevelt and Taft (1900-1912). During the Boer war (1899-'02) the Canadian contingent car- ried Army Association Secretaries with equipment to South Africa and to the British Army. During the Russo-Japanese war (1904-1905) American Secretaries in Japan, under the strong leadership of Charles V. Hibbard, introduced the work among Japanese soldiers and officers in Manchuria. After the Boxer war and the siege of Pekin in 1900, the work was estab- lished for the American Legation Guard in that city. While these international extensions were taking place and the work made steady progress in the favor of the men and officers of the United States Army and Navy, budgets for other departments of the Committee's work — Student, Railroad, In- dustrial — after 1902 began rapidly to exceed in size the Army and Navy budget ; but upon the outbreak of the present world war in 1914, and later when the troublesome situation arose on the Mexican border in 1916, for a second and much longer period (1914-1917) expenditure by the Committee on behalf of young men under arms in Europe and on our own and other continents has gradually exceeded not only the entire home work budget of the period, but that of all other work of the Committee both at home and abroad, including the expenses of the new Boys', Industrial, and County or Rural Work. When in 1917 the United States declared war against Germany and joined Britain, France, Russia, and their allies, the Amer- ican Association Movement — as in 1861 and 1898 — mobilized a third Christian Commission through its International Com- mittee, giving to it this time the name of the "National War Work Council." Of its membership, as heretofore, a large per- centage are members of the International Committee. Its Chairman is the Committee's Vice-Chairman, William Sloane, of New York, its General Secretary and his staff are the Com- mittee's General Secretary, Dr. John R. Mott with some of 312 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN his associates who are also members of the Committee's Secre- tarial Cabinet. To raise the millions of dollars for 1917 needed to serve not only our own soldiers but millions of prisoners of war from all the nations, and other millions in the armies of our allies, the entire Association movement, local. State, and International is mobilized. Every one of the forty-eight states offers the allotment of its share of the fund. Every de- partment lends its cooperation. The rural Association workers and the boys become soldiers of the soil ; the railroad workers are called soldiers of the rail; the industrial workers, soldiers of munitions and other industries; while from all these de- partments and from the city and student members, young men flock to the colors. In the nineteenth century the most influential classes into which the City Association Movement extended its work and membership were the young men of the schools and universities and of the railroads and other industries, and only a beginning was accomplished among soldiers. But in the first two decades of the twentieth century, while accelerated progress among all other classes has been achieved, it is preeminently among young men under arms that unprecedented extension has been accomplished. The magnitude of the service rendered has eclipsed all previous extension of the beneficent infiuence of Association work among young men throughout the world and has given the work and the brotherhood a usefulness and repute beyond the dreams of the fathers. Two World Conferencbjs in Europe 1898 Meeting of World's Conference at Basle In this same year it was necessary to attend meetings of the World's Conference at Basle, Switzerland, and of the World's Student Christian Federation at Eisenach, Germany. For the first time these two vitally related World Conferences met in the near neighborhood of one another. A group of delegates from other continents, some crossing both the Pacific and the Atlantic, brought credentials entitling them to attend the two meetings. The World's Conference assembled at Basle on the day of the THE EVENTFUL YEAR OF 1898 313 naval battle at Santiago, while American and Spanish sailors and soldiers were contending for the mastery in Cuba and the Philippines. On the platform of the Conference at the open- ing session, during the welcome extended to the delegates from different countries, the Spanish delegate Louis de Vargas and I met, each reporting for the Associations he represented. We greeted one another, shaking hands with a special cordiality, and in this public manner as fellow Christian workers gave conspicuous testimony to the fact that such disciples of Christ, in both countries, were at peace and in brotherly cooperation with one another. There was so much that was spectacular in our meeting and greeting, that at the time the circumstance was very widely reported, and some weeks afterward a paper from Australia was received at our office containing a tele- graphic description of the occurrence. In that and many other journals this was the only mention of the proceedings of the Conference! The incident was impressive, as an indication of the presence and action in our brotherhood of "the international mind" and heart. Under another name we were more familiar with it as the Christ mind and heart. A second General Secretary of the World's Committee, Chris- tian Phildius, came to Basle, for during the four years since the Jubilee meeting at London, and in response to action there taken, he had been added to the staff of the Committee. For some time this appointment had been urged by British and American supporters of the Committee's work, in the expecta- tion that this second Secretary would be set apart to the estab- lishment of such excellent metropolitan work as he had ad- ministered in Berlin. The able President o-f the Basle Asso- ciation, Sarasin Warnery, a leading capitalist and Christian worker of Switzerland, presided admirably at the Conference, and began to take that interest in the work and the Com- mittee of the Conference which led a few years afterward to his becoming its Chairman. The Vice-Chairman of the International Committee, Alfred E. Marling, for the first time attended the Conference as one of the American delegates. This was the beginning of an interest and attendance which led to his becoming an active American member of the World's Committee. James Stokes reported his toTif of travel around the ^orld, just completed^ 314 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN and L. Wilbur Messer, of Chicago, presented a paper carefully reviewing the work of the North American Associations. Mott spoke of the Student and C. J. Hicks of the Railroad Work, and both of them served on the Delegates' Committee. They were successors of McBurney, who had been the Ameri- can member — and usually the Chairman — at every Conference since the World's Committee made its first report in 1881. At the suggestion of Sir George Williams, a cablegram of cordial brotherly greeting was sent from the Conference to McBurney, who was then in a hospital in New York. As Chairman of the Delegates' Committee, Mott brought an able report outlining the work of the World's Committee and recommending Chris- tiania as the place of meeting for the Conference of 1902. The World's Student Federation Meeting From Basle, with Mott, Phildius, and Stokes, I went to Eisenach, to attend the meeting of the Student Federation and its Committee. Since the meeting at Williamstown only a year had passed, and according to the rules the next meeting was due in 1899, but the holding of the World's Conference at Basle made it practicable for Mott and others to attend a Federation meeting in Germany. This was earnestly desired by the students of that country and proved to be an oppor- tunity well worth improving. Each of these two World Con- ferences also gained additional delegates by meeting during the same season and in the neighborhood of one another. A good precedent was thus established, which was followed by both Conferences in 1902, 1905, and 1909. At all these Mott was reelected a member of the Delegates' Committee of the World's Conference, while he also continued leader of the Federation. At Eisenach (1898) another Student Movement was added to the ten already affiliated in the Federation, namely, the Student Movement of the Netherlands, France, and Switzerland. The General Secretary's Private Office and Home Another significant event of this year was a second change in the location of the Committee's ofSce. For some years its second oflSce — at 40 East 23rd Street — had been painfully over- crowded, owing to the increase of the staff and the expansion THE EVENTFUL YEAR OF 1898 315 of the work. For twenty years — 1880-1898 — an office in my home had promoted for me a wise separation from the distrac- tion of the Committee's public ofiflce. Since 1884 this private office had been located in our home at 139 East 18th Street, and for fourteen years in this home we had kept open house both for two large families of brothers and sisters and for our friends and associates in the work. As Mrs. Morse and I each belonged to a family of ten children, we were blessed with thirty-six nieces and nephews, nearly half of whom were born after we were married, and a number of whom not long after that event followed our example in seeking and finding homes of their own. In their families during our married life the children numbered twenty-eight. The location was central for those in the city and also for those living in the suburbs. Our brothers and sisters found it a haven when family complications made it desirable for us to receive some of their children for a time, and the chil- dren themselves eagerly welcomed such visits. They knew they would find drawers filled by their Aunt with attractive and familiar toys, some of which in due time became of historic interest in the family. When older children needed treat- ment from specialists, they too seemed to find our home a happy abiding place. Many memorable anniversary gatherings were held here, and occasionally Christmas trees and plum puddings were among the attractions. Our colored cook, Phoebe Bowers, who before she came to us lived with Mrs. Morse's mother, and who remained with us for over thirty years, was well known by our guests and a friend of all the children. Colored waiter boys served in a succession which was very educative to each in turn, owing to the rare ability in this line possessed by the home-making head of the household. They were important members of the establishment and were secured while very young, some of them so small that they could only reach dishes near the edge of the table. They were trained until capable of taking positions of rank as butlers, or other more responsible household officers, and were always objects of special interest to our friends! One of these boys, Oscar by name, during one of our absences from home served for a while as nurse to L. D. Wishard, during a convalescence of 316 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN some duration and the Secretary enjoyed recounting some of the long conversations he had with the boy, as intervals of leisure were improved by both patient and nurse. In one of these, the boy — inspired by a desire to meet his patient on his own ground — expressed it as his ambition, "to go when he was big, as a missionary to the Indians." Another charac- ter of family interest was our Irish landlord, an old-time, old- world gentleman, who always wore a large silk hat and be- came our warm friend. My fellow Secretaries were also welcomed as members of the home and family, Robert McBurney being always a favorite guest. The two guest rooms were kept ready for use at a moment's warning and were seldom empty. Friends from all parts of the world were welcomed to them. More than once the housekeeper returned after a short absence to find both rooms occupied. At meal-time we were seldom alone, and the unexpected appearance of guests was a part of the day's enjoy- ment. An inflexible household rule made this flexibility in numbers quite practicable, for an extra plate was always pro- vided. Each of us felt free to invite any one to a meal, pro- vided the waiter boy was informed, who passed the word on to Phoebe. After this precaution the extra plate was for any- one else who might "drop" in after the meal had begun. Our friends became accustomed to take us as they found us, and if, as sometimes happened, the last slice of bread in the house . appeared on the table, no. one was anxious or troubled ! This mention of bread reminds the housekeeper, who is looking over my shoulder as I write these lines, that Phoebe's bread was very popular, and we were told by friends that they "al- ways remembered Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday as fresh bread days" and particularly liked to drop in for luncheon on "those particular days!" Another rule which was quite strictly enforced prohibited the talking of "shop" or business at the table — the conversation must be of a general character. This made meal-time more of a genuine rest and recreation to me than it could have been if my mind had been held at tension upon the arduous work of the day. The constant coming and going of my associates kept Mrs. Morse in close and intelligent touch with the work, and as she frequently went with me to conferences and con- THE EVENTFUL YEAR OP 1898 317 ventions, at home and abroad, her contact with it was intimate and in many cases gave her the pleasure of knowing the wives and families of friends and associates. Her sympathy and activity in Christian work were also ex- tended to the Woman's Foreign Board of our Church (Presby- terian), of which she was an industrious leading member for over twenty-five years. NotaMe Guests Among our guests from abroad we enjoyed giving welcome to Professor Thomas H. Gladstone of London and W. Hind Smith of the staff of the English National Council, on his route home from India and Australia; Kynaston Studd, General Secretaries Kennedy and Putterill and National Secretary W. H. Mills of London ; Charles Fermaud, Christian Phildius, and Em. Sautter of the World's Committee; Karl Fries of Stockholm, Ibuka and Niwa of Japan, and Tsao — the Mc- Burney of Shanghai and China. Soon after he began his work in Japan, Secretary John T. Swift wrote me that Chief Justice Myoshi^a modest Chris- tian gentleman — would be passing through New York with his wife, en route to Berlin to reside there for a time for pur- poses of professional study. The Chief Justice accepted an invitation to dine at our home with Mr. and Mrs. Monroe, and we enjoyed a pleasant evening together. Mrs. Myoshi was specially interested in the equipment of this first Ameri- can home which she had seen, the hot air coming from registers particularly challenging her attention. After a residence of more than a year abroad they arrived in our cify homeward bound. During our call upon them at the hotel, where they tarried, we were introduced to two children, born to them in Europe, to the first of whom they had given a name signifying that it was a "child of three continents." Another interesting fellowship was connected with our house in 18th Street. The same spring (1884) that we began resid- ing there, Chairman Brainerd rented a house on the same block, which he occupied for eight years, until his resignation. The part of the day which he set aside for seeing my associates and myself was during the evening, and immediately after dinner, almost every evening, his house was my resort alone 318 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN or with fellow Secretaries. These interviews, according to circumstances, lasted from a few minutes to four or five hours. He was often tired and would throw himself on the sofa and take a good nap, but in his library I could always improve the interval. Then he would wake up refreshed and ready to talk, till after midnight if need be, on his work of vigilant cor- respondence and supervision. After his retirement, my conferences with his successors in the chairmanship more often took place in the daytime, and at the luncheon hour. In 1898 the growth of the work and staff made imperative a removal to larger offices at 3 West 29th Street, where a quiet and somewhat retired room was provided for the General Secretary. For our home, too, a change to another neighbor- hood was desirable and we moved far up town, and far from the Committee's new offices. This removal closed a very de- lightful period of our home life. There were guest rooms in the new home and they were not unoccupied, but we were no longer near the office and in a location so central as to be a "drop in" place of resort for a midday meal. Belief from some of the severe strain of work at home and in the evening was experienced. This was doubtless desirable, but also some of the pleasant and wide hospitality which for years had been part of a strenuous and happy life was denied us. Office and home were also in a striking numerical relation to one another. The office was at 3 West 29th Street, the home at 13 West 129th Street, exactly one hundred blocks or five miles from one another. The change of the office to new rooms affording one-third more space was most timely, for it was accomplished just before the outbreak of the Spanish War and accommodation for the Army Work would have been impossible without this enlarge- ment of the office. "The most interesting feature of life in the new offices," to quote from my report of this year, "is the fifteen-minute noon service, which is occupied with statements regarding progress on the field and with prayer for a blessing on work and workers. The attendance is composed of friends from the New York state and city offices, which are located in the same build- ing and of all International Committee workers and visitors THE EVENTFUL YEAR OP 1898 319 who are in the offices at the hour. Sometimes as many as forty persons are present. Personal reports and extracts from let- ters are often of thrilling interest. The absentees at home and abroad report that they derive new courage from the con- sciousness that they are steadily remembered in prayer by their associates in the home office. The accommodation for this serv- ice in the old quarters prevented such an attendance as now promotes both interest and helpfulness." On the Bicycle — a Century Run In 1895 in a bicycle school Mrs. Morse and I learned to ride the wheel. For some years we enjoyed many rides to- gether in the suburbs and during our August vacation at Shelter Island. For some twelve years, between the ages of fifty-four and sixty-six, this proved to be a form of exercise helpfully supplementing that of the Eoberts dumbbell drill which for thirty years has been taken, without the dumb- bells, each morning before my bath. When a hundred blocks separated our home from the office, I began the practice of riding this distance on my wheel every morning and evening when the weather allowed. Half the journey could be ac- complished in Central Park; this greatly added to the enjoy- ment of it. During August of the following year (1899) on Shelter Island and in its neighborhood Mrs. Morse and I enjoyed many rides together, one of nearly fifty miles. Perhaps I had taken more exercise on the wheel that month than in any other be- fore or since. Early in September the Committee and its Secretaries were to meet on Long Island, at Long Beach, about 100 miles from Shelter Island, with good bicycle paths between. Early on the day before the meeting (6 a. m.) I set out on my wheel, from Greenport, with the intention of completing half the journey — more or less — by rail, but road and rider and wheel proved to be in such good condition that before dis- mounting at the Long Beach Hotel at 5 p. m., I had completed "a century run." The following year I met with my only serious accident on the wheel. As I was returning home from the office along Fifth Avenue near 120th Street, a boy heedlessly scorching with- out looking ahead of him, hit my wheel violently. In the fall 320 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN my knee was so severely wrenched as to put me on crutches for the next five months. A Variety of Official and Personal Activities The following extracts taken from the monthly family letters of June, July, and November, 1897, give an impression of the activities of this period : "June 30th, 1897— On the train from New Haven to North- field. Yale Commencement day exercises and dinner were over this afternoon and I am returning at once to Northfleld, where our Student Summer Conference has been in session since the 25th, and where I left Mrs. Morse to await my return. Nearly four hundred are in attendance this summer, among them stu- dents from twenty-five nations, including delegates from col- leges on every continent. The presence of the latter is due in part to the recent world tour of twenty months ending last March, by our College Secretary, John Mott. In the course of this tour, chiefly through his efforts, the World Student Chris- tian Federation was organized. He is its General Secretary. In it are already represented some ten student brotherhoods, more or less resembling our own American and Canadian inter- collegiate movement. Our meeting at Northfleld this year is made signiflcant by the fact that among the foreign visitors are members of the Federation General Committee, which is composed of two representatives of each of the ten Student Movements constituting the Federation. Secretary Mott and I represent our movement. After our sessions in Northfleld close next Sunday and the multitude disappear, we of this Committee will spend some days next week at Williamstown in important conference. Quite undesirably for me Yale Commencement, for the flrst time, occurred this year in the midst of our Northfleld meet- ing. I could not avoid being at both. So I left Northfleld on Monday afternoon to attend in New Haven on Tuesday, flrst, as chairman, the meeting of the Graduate Committee of the Yale Association, where I met a classmate of Sam Colgate's (a nephew), Thomas Archbald, who is to be Yale Secretary the coming year, and the Student President of this year — Henry B. Wright, son of the Dean and a member of the incom- ing senior class. My second errand on Tuesday was to attend the very interesting anniversary dinner meeting of my class — this being the thirty-fifth year since our graduation. Brother Will was there, as class secretary, to attend his thirtieth, Richard Colgate (a nephew), his twentieth, and Sam Colgate (another nephew), his sixth anniversary meeting. We ob- THE EVENTFUL YEAR OF 1898 321 tained glimpses of one another, but classmates had the right of way. The Yale catalogue assigns to our class exactly 100 graduates. Seventy are now living and of them thirty-four were present. Every one was heard from. It was a combina- tion story of widely varied and very interesting careers. Chief Justice Albert F. Judd, of Honolulu, presided. He had come also to witness the graduation of the two eldest of his seven sons. Of the younger ones more are sure to follow, he says. (Two followed in 1901 and 1905.) Now the Commencement exercises of this morning and afternoon being concluded, I am returning for the closing sessions at Northfleld and the yet more significant meeting at Williamstown. But I have begun the story of the month toward the end of it! The first Sunday (6th) we spent on Shelter Island mak- ing ready our little cottage there for occupation later in the season. The following Sunday with the preceding Saturday I was at the Clifton House, Niagara Falls, where at the invita- tion of one of our Ohio Secretaries (Glen Shurtleff, of Cleve- land) a dozen and more Association Secretaries from Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, New York, St. Louis, and other cities met to confer about the religious and Bible work of the Asso- ciations. It proved a very useful and timely conference.^ The following week we entertained in our home an interest- ing guest in the person of the President of one of our Chris- tian colleges in Tokyo, Japan — Rev. K. Ibuka, who is a leader in our college student work in Japan and Chairman of the Student Association movement of that Empire. His chief errand here is to attend the two student meetings at North- field and Williamstown. This brings this scrappy monthly chronicle to the time in June of our departure for Northfield already mentioned. I ought however to report my visit to Springfield and to our League Secretary, (Oliver C. Morse), who is also Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Training School, at the annual meeting of which, on the Commencement day, I was expected. Also one pleasant Sunday (20th) we spent in Brooklyn in the old Van Cott homestead, where and when I had the privilege of baptizing the youngest little grandchild, who now bears the honored name of his grandfather, Joshua Marsden Van Cott." "Locustcroft, Shelter Island Heights, N. Y. July 31st, 1897. My last letter was mailed in Northfield at our Students' Conference, which closed July sixth. Then we journeyed to Williamstown with our foreign delegates from Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australasia. We numbered thirty, including a iP. 272. 322 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN few of our American Secretaries. At Northfield these foreign students had met hundreds of our college boys and had be- come acquainted with our intercollegiate Christian brother- hood with its twenty years of experience, during which it has worked out valuable methods, a useful literature, and sys- tematic supervision under trained leaders. The oldest similar student brotherhood represented by the foreigners is the Brit- ish infant, three years old! So our foreign friends from the old world found much to interest them in this parent Student Movement planted in the new world. On the other hand our boys were eager to hear from every land of the beginning of a movement similar to their own. We all met around one large table in a spacious room, as members of the General Committee of the World's Student Christian Federation (organized two years ago) with a few invited guests from our own country and from France, Hol- land, and Switzerland, where this student movement is not yet organized. Our subject was to find out how far we were agreed in purpose and work, and then how we could be of service to one another in extending the Kingdom of Christ among students of all lands. There were many impressive moments during the Conference, when we realized a genuine fellowship and unity in purpose and work and a lively con- sciousness that we had veritably come together from the ends of the earth. One afternoon we met about the Haystack Monu- ment at the starting point of American foreign missions and listened to the story of that beginning by Williams College students of a movement one outgrowth of which — as now we could distinctly trace it — was this World Student Brother- hood.2 We returned home July 12th and welcomed to dinner on the following day seven of our foreign friends from Britain, Nor- way, Australia, Germany, and Holland and the next day bid them goodbye on board their steamer." The next monthly letter is dated August 31st at the end of the vacation month, and records: "The days passed very quietly. We have made good use of our bicycles. One day after breakfast we set out for Easthamp- ton, reaching there in time for a bath in the surf and for a ride to Amagansett, where we took dinner. We reached home before supper time after a day's ride of 48 miles. On other days we visited in a similar way Mattituck, Orient Point, Southampton, and other less distant places. It was pleasant to find our wheeling ability equal to these excursions, and we have com e to the end of an unusually invigorating vacation." ' See pp. 382-3 for further account of thia meeting. THE EVENTFUL YEAR OP 1898 323 In the November letter of this year what occurred on Thanks- giving day is thus recorded : "The Thanksgiving board of our old friend Dr. Henry Steb- bins was this year spread in New York at the Waldorf Astoria on this .wise: His two boys are at Andover Academy on their way to college and one of his daughters is making her home with us for a season. So in their family plans it was deter- mined to concentrate in New York, as the boys must return to school on Friday. We consented to join forces at dinner and found at the hotel an academy and college classmate, Dr. William W. Seely, of Cincinnati, with his wife and daughters. So we three old academy boys sought instruction from the two who were fresh from the school room and the ball field." McBuenby's Sickness and Death While the year 1898 in relation to home, of&ce, and work on our own or other continents was one of the busiest, most strenuous, and most hopeful of my life, it was the saddest of years in connection with Kobert E. McBurney, the friend among associates and fellow-workers with whom I had been most affectionately intimate. It was the last year of his life on earth, and from its beginning until the day after Christ- mas when the end came, it was with him a year of days and nights of sickness and suffering, and toward the close, of a weakness which became unbearable. For the first time in the thirty-five years of his secretary- ship, at the end of 1897 he gave up making his usual careful preparation for the Annual Eeport of the New York Asso- ciation and its anniversary meeting in January at which that report was read. This had been for years, especially since the Association had entered its building in December, 1869, a strong annual feature of his efiflciency as an executive Secre- tary, and it was one of those exemplary features of his ofladal life often quoted as worthy of all imitation by his fellow Sec- retaries. What it cost him to give up an undertaking which had such rank with him among things essential, only those most intimate with him could appreciate, and there was in it an ominous note of final withdrawal. December and January he spent at Atlantic City, with a friend, and on his return we hoped that he would recover, under vigilant care in his "Tower Eoom." The doctors called 324 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN in for consultation agreed that his recovery would be promoted by removal to a hospital. There he remained a prisoner week after week until autumn. Morning and evening on my way between home and oflSce upon my wheel I called upon him, until I left to attend the two World Conferences in Europe. Before this time, early in his stay, it was decided that a surgical operation was desirable. In the operating room I was permitted to be present, after he had discovered that I was sure that this was my own preference. It was a prefer- ence founded on a discovery, without his knowledge, that it was his preference. We were all hopeful that the result would be complete recovery. He was very much gratified by receiving from Basle the brotherly greeting from the World's Conference sent at the suggestion of Sir George Williams. On my return he was still in the hospital, but able to walk occasionally in the portion of Central Park near at hand. He also had been able to spend a day with Mrs. Morse in our new home, a call he seemed to enjoy greatly. He resisted all her efforts, reenforced by coun- sel from his doctors, to come to us from the hospital and make our home his also. His one reiterated reason was "that it would be too much of a tax for her, and that he would give too much trouble." This refusal was to both of us a source of never-ending regret, for we felt that we could have made his last days far more comfortable. At the hospital now all had been done for him that could be accomplished by doctors and nurses. He had made friends of all with whom he had come in contact, and one day when Mrs. Morse was visiting him, one of his nurses very insistently and wonderingly assured her that they had "never had a patient who was one bit like him." From the hospital he went to the Adirondacks for August. There, on going to visit him, I found him no stronger, and solicitude began to deepen into despondency and hopelessness. My visit was a very mournful one, but I cherish the memory of his patience and faith and the affectionate winsomeness and thoughtfulness with which he was making friends to the very end of his life. From the Adirondacks he went to Clifton Springs, where he gradually grew weaker, as was very evident every time I was THE EVENTFUL YEAR OF 1898 325 able to go there to see him. His friend William E. Dodge, hear- ing that he could not comfortably use any ordinary easy chair, asked me to select one which could be adapted to his use. This token of friendly solicitude was very grateful to him. As he grew feebler he had need of two attendants— two young men — the last of a multitude whom he had loved and attached to himself as their friend. In their ministry of faithful serv- ice they represented a love and tenderness which would at that time have been placed at his service, in almost any quarter of the globe where he might have been, by those who eagerly would have made grateful acknowledgment of how he had come into their lives, not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give his life in Christlike service. The end came quite unexpectedly, on the day after Christmas, and the J)j;wilege of being with him was denied me. CjJ. )/, ivlUL' t«/»-«w "BuJ*, By his will many of his treasures in the "Tower Room" were bequeathed to Mrs. Morse. Not a few of these he had col- lected in the course of many happy journeys during which they had searched together for such treasure in antique shops and out-of-the-way corners. She had far more sympathy with him than I in the gratification of these tastes which were among the recreations of his life. They both followed such quests with genuine enjoyment, and had much good-natured rivalry as to good "finds." By this bequest he knew he would bring into our home mementos pleasantly associated with himself and the good times we had had together. His largest bequest, aside from the residuary estate be- queathed to his brother in Australia, was the sum of two thou- sand dollars to the Springfield Training School, in which as fellow trustees we had taken the deepest interest, attending together with almost unfailing regularity the monthly meet- ings during the administration of its first three presidents. In a memorandum connected with his will was a request concerning any memorial meeting that might be held after his death. He wished its main feature to be an appeal to young men to become disciples of Christ, and suggested the four speakers who he desired should take part in the meet- ing. This wish was carried out at a service held in Associa- tion Hall, when the four speakers were William E. Dodge, who presided, Cephas Brainerd, Wm. W. Hoppin, and myself. The 326 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN sense of the loss of this friend and the wish for his presence, sympathy, and counsel continue with me in vivid consciousness, although nineteen years have passed since his departure. It will continue to the close of this earthly life and until it dis- appears in the realities of a satisfying endless reunion. "The Tower Eoom" of Robeet R. McBurnbt What in recent years (1916) has been known as "the old Twenty-third Street Building" stood at the corner of Twenty- third Street and Fourth Avenue, and was erected in 1868-9. At the time of its disappearance in 1903, it was only thirty-four years old. During its first decade we fully expected that it would outlive all of us who were working in it at that time. Happily for Robert McBurney it did outlive him, for he would *haf ie mourrtedits disappearance as a sore bereavement. It was a product and child of his thoughtful solicitude for the welfare of young men. Within it for many years he found his dwelling place and home, and it was also the home of his life work. It takes high rank among historic structures, being the first of distinctive Association buildings and present- ing the main points of that pattern on which all have since been erected, in all parts of the world. After 330 buildings on this and other continents had been built — more or less on its pattern, and many of them contain- ing improvements with all of which he was familiar and many of which he had suggested — he took great interest and pride in again serving the New York Association as its architect in erecting the West Side Branch building, which was dedicated a year before his death. This embodied all improvements up to that date. Without wife or children to make a home for him to dwell in, he found his most congenial abode in the building where the best work of his noble life had been wrought, and where his environment was immediately associated with the friend- ships he was cultivating and enjoying. From the day that the building was occupied he cherished the thought of living in it. But all his friends on the Board of Directors, and particularly President Dodge, were opposed to this plan. They believed such a residence would be prejudicial to his health, because of the temptation to overwork which he would meet, THE EVENTFUL YEAR OF 1898 327 and could not resist. He did not agree with them, but bided his time and opportunity. These arrived during Mr. Dodge's retirement from the presidency, owing to ill health, and when the tenant of the Tower Eoom gave up his lease. When the building was completed the two upper floors were promptly rented for artists' studios, for at that time on an opposite corner stood the new building of the Academy of Design. This location was therefore very desirable for artists. Above the four stories of the building was the mansard roof containing a fifth, and surmounted by a small ornamental tower at each corner. At the middle of the 23rd Street eleva- tion there was a higher and larger tower. This central tower was large enough to be divided into two stories, the upper one containing a large room, with three windows on the front, and two on the sides. Back of this was a bedroom with outlook toward the south. The lower floor contained one room. When he secured this abiding place he was nearly forty years of age. He had left his father's home in Ireland at the age of fifteen and ever since had been a wanderer, in boarding houses. Now he was able to abide for the remaining twenty years of his life, in these ample attractive rooms, commanding a wide outlook over the city. Here he gathered artistic and comfortable antique furniture, rugs, bric-a-brac, pictures, and a library, all refiecting the excellence and refinement of his tastes. His fondness for hymns and Bible study was indicated by a rare collection and selection of hymns ancient and modern, and by well chosen commentaries. He was a fisherman of skill, and valued his ample store of fishing tackle, which also appealed to the many kindred spirits among his friends. One of his greatest recreations was to haunt the windows and shops of dealers in antiques. In these and other pastimes he conveyed to those with him the impression that he was never losing sight of the main object of his life, in all his inter- course with men. There were many evidences in these rooms that he was a smoker, but they were also a cleanly, orderly, comfortable resort for his more numerous friends who did not smoke. Every Saturday afternoon was set apart for Bible study in preparation for the class to be taught on Sunday. This was 328 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN the one period of the week when he must not be disturbed. The rooms were large enough to enable him to entertain friends over night. George A. Hall, State Secretary of New York, his lifelong friend, testified that such entertainment gave him in the morning his best opportunity for consulta- tion and conference with the leading member and best counselor of his Committee. During his first five years in the tower (1876-81) until my sister came to live with me in the city, I occupied the room on the lower floor, which had been fitted up in a homelike manner by two of my sisters. For the seven years preceding our oflces had been close to one another, and during this period we had taken our meals together. Now for a season we made our abode together and ever afterward, to the end of his life, his dwelling place was for me a homelike resort, the scene of countless conferences and consultations. Here every January, as the fourth Monday — the eventful day of the New York Association anniversary — approached, he called about him the group of helpers whom he enlisted in the preparation of his annual report for the Board of Direc- tors, which was to be read to the general public on the eve- ning of anniversary day. The important facts and figures were always there, but never in the same form and order. An out- look over the whole Association field he coveted. The State Work paragraph must be made interesting. The International point of view and the World's Conference in its season must be given fitting mention. Many events of consequence transpired in the Tower Eoom. Offers of more than one critical resignation — too hastily deter- mined upon — were here withdrawn after patient reconsidera- tion. Not a few life decisions, and many lifelong influences for good dated from prayer and interview here. Here also a feast was given one evening in December, 1882, the anniversary of which continues in international force and dimensions until the present day. Who can tell, or even trace all the streams of gracious, blessed, healing, lifegiving influence that flowed even unto the ends of the earth, and into the eternities, from this Tower Room, and from the life and work and ministry of Robert McBurney ! CHAPTER XVII STUDENT WORK— LOCAL AND INTERCOLLEGIATE Interest in Student Work at Yale Preparing for an Association at Yale Of ancestral and personal relation to Yale College and University some account already has been given, and also of a first endeavor in 1874 and '75^ to promote among under- graduates there the forming of a College Association. A year or two later and more successfully, at Princeton, Luther D. Wishard, improving his opportunity as an undergraduate at the head of the student Christian organization, led his fellow students — while conserving the name and traditions of the Philadelphian Society — to make it a College Young Men's Christian Association. A similar change at Yale seemed to me practicable and consistent with conserving the office and work of the class deacons whose office dates from early in the nine- teenth century.2 This could be accomplished, I thought, by adding so much of Association organization and methods as it was fitting to appropriate. And now after the beginning of the intercollegiate movement, and with a College Secretary actually in the field, Luther D. Wishard, a third opportunity was presented to me for a.conference with the students at New Haven in company with this Secretary during the first year of his service. In that year (1878) College Young Men's Christian Asso- ciations — in feeble condition as isolated local societies— were surviving the first period of their history. For as early as 1858 and 1859 the first two of these student societies had been formed, without any knowledge of one another, at the widely separated universities of Virginia and Michigan. A few years later, in 1862, one was formed in Rochester (New York) Uni- versity. > p. 142. ! Pp. 13, U2. 329 330 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Before becoming a Secretary of the International Committee I had learned of the first of these three student societies from my friend Reverend Dr. John A. Broadus, who in the period before the Civil War, while a pastor in Charlottesville, had served as a chaplain of the University of Virginia. He cher- ished very pleasant recollections of his service in that oflflce and of vital contact with the Student Association which was formed there during his chaplaincy in the midst of the coun- trywide revival of 1858. About the same time, I had received, as already mentioned, a very favorable impression of the Association at Rochester University from another friend. President Anderson of that institution.^ The founder of the Michigan University Association, Professor A. K. Spence, I had met (1870) at my first International Convention. This Convention was the fifteenth in the series of these annual meetings, but among its delegates there was no undergraduate student. Few if any had come to the preceding fourteen Con- ventions with any message of which printed record had been made. Quite a number of societies had been formed with little or no knowledge of one another and unaided by helpful intercourse. While these College Associations, during their early pioneer period before 1870, had been too feeble and isolated to get together, the stronger City Associations had met in these fifteen International Conventions, and since 1866 in many more State Conventions. They were beginning also to create supervisory agencies and through their International Com- mittee to obtain knowledge and feel solicitude concerning these isolated College Associations. A first indication of this appeared in the Association Monthly early in 1870, in articles by President Anderson and Professor Spence.^ Two years before, at the Convention of 1868, Professor Spence had failed to secure the passing of a resolution favoring the organization of Student Associations, but at the Convention of 1870 he for the first time met both agents — ^Weidensall and myself — of the International Committee, who were in hearty sympathy with his resolution. This time it was adopted. This action opened a path to the colleges for Robert Weiden- « p. 63. *Pp. 64, 65. STUDENT WORK— LOCAL AND INTERCOLLEGIATE 331 sail, which he entered with conviction and energy, although he could give only a part of his time to this portion of his wide field. A few students began to come to the Conventions. In 1872 at the University of "Virginia Weidensall found the stu- dents so doubtful of their being desired in the City Association brotherhood that they were seriously considering a change of name, but they cordially responded to the greeting and mes- sage of this pioneer leader. He also organized new societies and, most important of all, the man^ was found for organizing and the demand created for a union of the students of the different colleges. This led to the creation already described of an Intercollegiate Movement at the Convention of 1877 in Louisville. It was the knowledge of this movement and its Secretary that I could now bring to Yale students on my third visit and both were welcomed by them. Already also among the class deacons and other Christian leaders "the need began to be keenly felt of some coordinating agency which would express the Christian spirit of all the classes and which would furnish opportunity for united aggressive action."® It was at this period also that Moody accepted the invitation of five hundred Yale students to visit the college, and a season of deep reli- gious interest followed. Alluding to this event Dr. Henry B. Wright adds:'' "For over twenty years after this first visit, until his death (1899) Mr. Moody came to Yale at intervals, never failing to gain the respect and love of all who heard him in each succeeding college generation." This visit of 1878 seems to have been one of the influences contributing to the establishment of that "coordinating agency for which men at Yale for some years had been groping." One result of this third visit was that when the next Con- vention met at Baltimore, in the summer of 1879, Yale was represented by a delegate, William B. Boomer of the class of '80, who, since his graduation, has given his life devotedly to foreign missionary service in Chili. Wishard had invited the College Pastor at Yale, Dr. William M. Barbour, to attend. He was unable to do so and at his request Boomer consented s Pp. 65, 95. • "Two Centuries of Cbriatian Activity at Yale," p. 212. ' Ibid., p. 107. 332 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN to go. At Baltimore lie met with forty-seven fellow delegates from thirty colleges, and was deeply impressed by their ac- counts of Student Association Work. On his return his favor- able report was one of the influences which led to the forma- tion of the Yale Christian Social Union. Another strong influence was the sympathetic cooperation of Arthur C. Dill of the class of 1880 and Professor Cyrus D. Northrop, after- ward for so many years President of the State University of Minnesota. This Christian Social Union brought together .the students of the different classes, supplementing in an excellent way the good work which for many years had been carried on within each class under the leadership of the deacons. The Yale Association Formed In the summer of 1881 the college was again represented at the International Convention in Cleveland. The student dele- gation was stronger than at Baltimore. The Yale delegate, Charles Loughridge of '83, on his return presented a report so satisfactory that it was heartily voted to enter the Intercol- legiate Movement as the Yale Young Men's Christian Associa- tion, and the following autumn I had the pleasure of attending the Massachusetts State Convention in company with Alfred C. Hand of the class of 1882, the first President of this Asso- ciation. Among the delegates to this Convention was another under- graduate who came from Williams College, Charles K. Ober. A paper upon Student Association Work read by him so favor- ably impressed me that upon my suggestion he was approached by Wishard and then by McBurney as a promising candidate for the secretaryship. This led to his accepting, after gradu- ation, a call from McBurney to be one of his assistants in the New York Association. Later be became State Secretary of Massachusetts and then joined the college staff of our Com- mittee, showing such fine qualification that in due time he was the successor of Wishard as chief College Secretary. From Williams and Amherst also, delegates were present at the Massachusetts Convention. During this season I spent a Sunday with the newly formed Association at Williams Col- lege, and another week-end at Harvard with the students of the "United Brethren," a society dating from 1803, the mem- STUDENT WORK— LOCAL, AND INTERCOLLEGIATE 333 bers of which were also on their way to join, a few years later (1886), our Student Association brotherhood. The Yale Association Building The following summer (1882) a very significant undertaking was begun. While I was attending in June at New Haven the annual meeting of Association Secretaries, the President of the Yale Association, James B. Eeynolds of the class of '84 and E. E. Aiken of '81, on behalf of the Christian students, reported to me the project of a building on the campus for the College Association. President Porter had been consulted and was in favor of the undertaking. A canvass for a building fund was proposed and a cooperation was sought from me which I was more eager to give than they were to seek. Their plan to solicit from the alumni a fund of $25,000 did not seem to me the best path to what they desired, for the Association had not been established long enough to command any wide and numerous response from the alumni. Search for a single donor, able and willing to give the whole amount needed, and intelligently impressed with the value of such a gift, seemed to me more likely to secure an adequate fund. In expressing this opinion, the name of a donor likely to respond favorably occurred to me, and I promised to make a report to them after a few weeks, when I would be visiting New Haven to attend the twentieth year meeting of my class of 1862. I had thought of Frederick Marquand, a generous friend of both Yale and the Young Men's Christian Association. A retired Christian merdiant of New York, and a trustee and benefactor of the Association in that city, he had already placed on the campus at Yale a building for the Divinity School, known as Marquand Chapel. His niece from her girl- hood had been to him in the relation of a daughter and only child, and was now the wife of Elbert B. Monroe, President of the New York Association. Mr. Marquand was residing at Southport, Connecticut, with his niece and her husband, and here I called on my way to class meeting, late in June. It was my first and last interview of this kind with my friend. In its results — personal, social, and oflScial — it proved as im- portant and far-reaching as any similar event in my experi- ence. 334 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN After entering his house, however, I at once abandoned any hope of seeing him, for Mrs. Monroe told me with regret, that her uncle, after a somewhat fatiguing journey, had retired to his room to sleep and could not be disturbed. To console me she very courteously served afternoon tea. When half my time had expired, she returned to announce that her uncle had awakened, had asked whether any one had called to see him, and on being told that I was there had insisted on seeing me. It now seemed too late to present the subject of the Yale building, and I began to report to him our Association work on the Bowery, in which he had recently taken a generous interest. In a few minutes he interrupted me, saying: "You have come to see me on a special errand. Tell me about it." So,r more briefly than I had intended, what the Yale students wanted was stated. He was favorably impressed with the importance of such a building on the Yale campus, and asked whether the present Marquand Chapel, which he had already erected, could be used for the purpose; When shown that this was not available, he offered to give favorable consideration to our request, but could not just then make a definite pledge. I never saw him again, for within three weeks he died. Soon after, Mr. and Mrs. Monroe went abroad, and when the new college year opened (September, 1882) it seemed best to at- tempt a canvass of the alumni, and friends of the Association, A book of subscriptions was opened in the hope of securing at least $20,000. A rough sketch of a building was also made — the principal feature of which was to be four rooms of equal size, at the corners of the main floor, for the four class prayer meetings. The site suggested by President Porter was at the corner of the campus between Alumni Hall — a building which has since disappeared — and the Durfee Dormitory. The space available seemed very small for our purpose and we hoped a better site would be offered before it was time to build. This college year also was signalized by the meeting on the Yale campus in February, 1883, of the flrst "Conference of the New England College Young Men's Christian Associa- tions." It was the beginning of a series of six annual meet- ings which were finally merged in the larger, longer, and more effective Northfield Conferences. To all of them Princeton was invited and sent delegates. To this first one, at Yale's STUDENT WORK— LOCAL. AND INTERCOLLEGIATE 335 invitation, there came nineteen delegates from Harvard, Brown, Williams, Amherst, Dartmouth, Bowdoin, Bates, Colby, and Princeton, also from Andover and Williston Academies. So profound an interest was awakened at Yale that for a week after the impressive farewell service on Sun- day, we continued daily, well attended services on the campus, led by Samuel M. Sayford, then Massachusetts State Secre- tary, who had been a welcome leader of similar meetings at Amherst and Williams. A number of entry prayer meetings were held and in response to wise personal effort some twenty conversions resulted. The good influence of the conference extended to other colleges and a new impression of the spirit- ual values in intercollegiate work was created. Diligent effort for the Yale building fund was continued. In seeking help from the alumni, and in accord with under- graduate precedent for such an undertaking, a graduate com- mittee was appointed to cooperate. The chairman chosen at my suggestion was James McCormick^ of the class of '53, a member of the International Committee, prominently con- nected with the whole Association movement and especially interested in its Student Department. His four sons gradu- ated at Yale in the classes of '84, '87, and '90, and a nephew, Vance C. McCormick, in 1893 S. In June, 1883, he and I were appointed as the beginning of the Committee, and soon after Dr. D. Stuart Dodge of the class of '57 was chosen treasurer and James B. Keynolds of '84 secretary. The President of the Association, Charles Loughridge of '83, was ex-officio a member. The two student members began a solicitation among alumni in Boston, New York, and other cities. From two Association friends I secured an offer of $10,000 and we were hoping to complete a fund of $20,000 or $25,000. But in the autumn of 1883 Mr. and Mrs. Monroe returned from their trip abroad, and in our first interview upon my alluding to the Yale Association building, a most pleasant surprise came to me when they replied that they thought seriously of erecting the building in the name of their uncle, and in accord with what they knew had been his intention. They asked whether we had proceeded so far as to preclude carrying out this project. Inquiry showed that almost all 8 p. 128. 336 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN the pledges already secured for the building would be gladly given for a fund, the income of which would be needed for a library and kindred uses connected with the work. Mr. and Mrs. Monroe manifested a desire to furnish a build- ing, adequate to accommodate the work of larger dimensions which was called for. To them the site proposed seemed as inadequate for such a purpose as it had seemed to us. On consultation with President Porter, a somewhat protracted deliberation by the Corporation ensued, for other friends of Yale had other plans for the occupation of the site proposed. During this deliberation the donors courteously withdrew their offer and the delay of a year followed. But during May, 1885, the Corporation voted to "set aside the site between the Library and Alumni Hall for Dwight Hall, a building to be devoted to the voluntary religious services of the students." During the same month the students petitioned the donors to renew their offer. This they consented to do and that summer ground was broken for the building. As early as April, 1884, Monroe had asked the graduate committee and a group of Student Association oflScers to dine with him at the New Haven House for consultation about a plan for the new building, which had been prepared by the architect. This consultation resulted in the plan which was followed in the construction of Dwight Hall, as it now (1917) stands. At the four corners of the main floor the four class-rooms opened into a large, central social room. On the second floor were the library, two smaller rooms, and a large hall seating some five hundred and equipped with an organ, while on a third floor yet further accommodation was found for what was needed in the future development of the work. On this floor also were two rooms for the use of the Secretary. The name of Dwight Hall was adopted in memory of the elder President Dwight, for whom Frederick Marquand had cher- ished a life-long reverential regard. While these plans were being formed, other plans of the donors had matured for an extended layman's missionary journey. As an influential member of the American Board, Mr. Monroe was deeply interested in the foreign missionary enterprise, and desired such intelligent contact with it as is STUDENT WORK— LOCAL AND INTBECOLLEGIATE 337 gained only by leisurely travel upon the field where the work is being carried on. In the emergency occasioned by his absence, the chairman of the graduate committee, James Mc- Cormick, consented to act for the donors, and at his invitation and in his company I visited New Haven every month of this college year— 1885-6— while Dwight Hall was being erected. These visits gave us opportunities to consult with the students in regard to the wise use of an equipment which was superior to any yet secured by a Student Association. TheiStudent General Secretaryship Begun at Yale In seeking the best leadership for the work in the new build- ing, we were wisely guided by a regard for both Yale and Association tradition. In college athletics, the volunteer activity of undergraduate students was developing excellent efficiency, and it had become a settled policy to secure the help of recently graduated athletes in the conduct of these contests. And in our City Association Work, when a building was to be secured, experience had shown that the use of such enlarged equipment demanded a worker who should be set apart as a General Secretary — not to do all the work, but to train and use an increasing number of volunteers on com- mittees for a work far larger than the Association could attempt before the building was secured. After careful con- sultation, all agreed that on the completion of Dwight Hall in October, 1886, a Yale Association General Secretary was needed, but where could he be found? Yale tradition in athletics said he should be a recent graduate, who had shown capacity and leadership in the Association work during his undergraduate life. This was an illustration, perhaps, of how sometimes "the children of light" become as "wise in their generation" as "the children of this world." It was finally concluded that the finding and appointment of such a Secretary should devolve upon the graduate com- mittee but only after "full consultation with the undergradu- ate Association ofQcers and workers, and upon the approval of the corporation, through its President." To this was added «a formal ratification by the Association." For such ratifica- tion the graduate committee was to present each appoint- ment to the annual meeting of the Association. It was not 338 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN difiScult to find the man upon whom all could heartily unite. He was the President of the Yale Association for the college year which was closing, as Dwight Hall was being completed — Chauncey W. Goodrich of the class of '86. Naturally, he had made other plans for the coming year connected with preparatory study for the ministry. But he was also loyal to his university and its highest interests. To what parish during the coming years could he receive a more unanimous and urgent call, and where would he find an opportunity for wider service or greater usefulness ? In response to these and other questions he accepted the call. After many years of graduate life, he and his immediate suc- cessors have put on record, for the help in future years of those invited to accept the secretaryship, their united and unanimous testimony to the great value to them in their life work, of this experience as Dwight Hall Secretaries. After the new ofSce had been decided upon and the man to fill it secured, the prob- lem of his salary was presented for solution. Thomas C. Sloane, a member of the well-known firm of William J. Sloane & Company, a Yale alumnus of the class of '68, was taking a deep interest in the university, and had become a member of the corporation. When I called his attention to this new office and its value, he agreed to the conclusion reached by the graduate committee, that this salary ought to be furnished by the alumni, and then, to my immense relief, he generously offered to give the entire amount needed for two years — a period during which he thought we could demonstrate the value of the office and its claim for continued support by the alumni. He also consented to become a member of the gradu- ate committee. Dwight Hall Equipped and Dedicated Mr. and Mrs. Monroe returned early in the autumn, in sea- son to select the furniture and equipment of the building. Their provision for this was very generous, and every detail was in excellent taste. The cost of the building was $50,000 and of the equipment $10,000. On the day of the dedication in October, 1886, President Dwight accepted the keys from Mr. Monroe and in his address said: "The significance of the gift of this building is to be found in its witness for Christ STUDENT WORK— LOCAL AND INTERCOLLEGIATE 339 and His truth. ... As one who has loved this university almost with the love of the family and the home, I have a deep satisfaction in the entrance of this new building into the number of those which make the dwelling place of Yale Col- lege, because I am sure that the Cause and Kingdom of Christ will be stronger here by reason of its presence." Chauncey Goodrich served very acceptably the first year as first General Secretary and was followed the second year by "Billy Phelps" of 1887, who later became known as Professor William Lyon Phelps. His earlier name, however, is more current among undergraduates and this use of it confers on him a merited distinction ! Alonzo A. Stagg of 1888 was the third Secretary and was the first to consent to continue in oflflce for two years, 1888-90. By this course he established a good precedent. To my surprise and regret James McCormick resigned the chairmanship of the graduate committee in 1889. To find and secure another alumnus of corresponding qualifications, who was able and willing to give the time and attention demanded by the chairmanship, was diflScult. Under protest I consented to act for a time and served until 1900. Stagg was succeeded for two years by Clifford W. Barnes of '88, who was followed in turn by Henry Fowler of '90 for two years, and Thomas Archbald of '96 for one year. William H. Sallmon of '94 was the first secretary to hold ofldce for three years, 1894-7. At the tenth anniversary of the dedication of Dwight Hall (October 18, 1896), a graduate ex-president, William Sloane, of the class of 1895, said : "I cannot but compare the strength and efficiency of the Yale Association today, as shown in yes- terday's Yale News editorial, with the prevailing feeling even as late as 1891, when I entered college." And the undergradu- ate Association President of that college year (1896-7), Henry Sloane CoflQn, in his President's Report, says: "The growth of the Association during the past year has made it a more powerful factor in the student community. ... 186 men have been active workers on the various committees. . . . The generous gift of a building for the use of the Scientific School members augurs well for the work in that department. As the University grows, the Association ought to develop a distinct work in each department." 340 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Until 1900 the Yale General Secretary was equally related to the Academic Department and SheflQeld Scientific School, but in that year John Ferry, of 1901 S, became the first Secre- tary for the ShefiBeld students, and by a gift from a friend of the work, a house on College Street was bought and for several years placed at the disposal of this branch of the Association. Sallmon was succeeded for three years by Henry B. Wright of 1898. Dr. D. Stuart Dodge continued as treasurer until 1897 and was followed by Samuel H. Fisher of New Haven of the class of 1889. William Sloane of New York City and of the class of 1895, who was president of the Association in his senior year, became a member of the graduate committee in 1897. In 1901 he was a member of the International Com- mittee and yielded to a solicitation to which for some years he had been subjected, consenting to become chairman of the com- mittee, provided I would remain for a season as vice-chair- man. Until his resignation it was a matter of controversy between us, whether my term of oflSce as vice-chairman had expired! However unsettled this minor question continued, Mr. Sloane proved to be the fully qualified chairman the com- mittee needed, and continued in office, vigilant and efficient, until 1915. The right kind of laical succession now had been secured for chairman as well as for the secretaryship. In 1915 Mr. Sloane and Mr. Fisher both resigned and were suc- ceeded by Wm. E. S. Griswold, 1899, and Frederick H. Wiggin, Jr., 1904. A University Organization and Secretary After the triennial term (1898-1901) of Henry B. Wright of the class of 1898 as Secretary had expired, he became in 1901 a member of the faculty, and has ever since continued to render a service to the Association and students of Yale of a value beyond all computation. In accord with his wise sug- gestion, the graduate committee and the Association in 1902 added to the Academic and Sheffield Secretaries a University Secretary, to care for all the departments. Eichard H. Ed- wards of 1901 was the first to hold this office. Up to this time the continuance in office of any Secretary for more than three years had seemed inadvisable. The ad- STUDENT WORK— LOCAL AND INTERCOLLEGIATE 341 vantage he derived from having been very recently in strong and acceptable touch with undergraduate life and its per- sonalities contributed to foster this tradition; but by the growth of a staff of Secretaries, this desirable touch could now be maintained by the Department Secretaries, and a University Secretary might be given a longer term of oflSce. Such a new departure was therefore decided upon, and Charles S. Campbell of the class of 1909 was called in 1912 and entered upon his oflBice in the college year 1915-1916. During the fifteen years of my close connection with the calling and work of the first seven Secretaries, and with their successors ever since, the fellowship granted me for thirty years with student work and workers at Yale has been among the most joyful experiences of my life work in the Young Men's Christian Association. The General Secretary at Yale has been thus described in "Two Centuries of Christian Activity at Yale": "He was not a college pastor, but he brought the pulpit supply into more congenial and pastoral touch with the stu- dents than had before been realized. He was not one of the members of the faculty, but he promoted a very happy kind of Christian intercourse between them and the students, com- manding the confidence of both. He was not an undergraduate, but the great majority of the students had known him in recent years as one of their own number and as one whose Christian character commanded respect. Having this peculiar access to undergraduate life, its fellowships and intimacies, he also had more time at his command than his undergraduate fellow officers, and could admirably organize and supplement their efforts. He had thus served as a happy medium of per- sonal Christian intercourse between the students and their undergraduate officers, and also between the entire student community on the one hand and the college faculty, church and pulpit on the other."» In a family letter of March, 1902, I find the following: "In this month I attended at New Haven in the twentieth year of the Yale Association, the first of its annual meetings in which each department of the University— Academic, Scien- tific, Theological, Law, Medical, and Graduate— was repre- sented by a branch or organization of its own. Our Graduate Committee or Board of Directors, of which I have been a B Wright, "Two Centuries of Christian Activity at Yale," p. 229. 342 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN member since its formation, is now related to this work car- ried on in two buildings on or near the campus, and in a third called Yale Hall for city mission work, and a fourth where boys are cared for by the students." The plan and program of this university-wide development of the Association was the suggestion and work of Professor Henry B. Wright, then a junior member of the faculty, and it was in the triennial period (1898-1901) of Henry Wright's secretaryship of this Student Association that John R. Mott said: "In Yale today is to be found the largest Christian Student Association, not only of this country, but of all the countries of the world, embodying as it does the best attributes of organized Christian work among students and appealing to the best elements in university life." Fellowship of Town and Gown in New Haven The following letter of much more recent date, from Gen- eral Secretary Judson J. McKim of the New Haven City Asso- ciation, gives an account of an interesting influence from the Yale Association, and is dated December 16, 1916 : "My dear Mr. Morse: During one of my first interviews with you in the beginning of my work here you expressed the hope that a closer relation- ship and cooperation could be promoted between the Yale and the City Associations. Something happened here last Wednes- day that I would like to report to you. It happened so naturally that I think no one of our staflf took special notice of it. On that evening Professor Henry B. Wright was on the seventh floor of our building speaking to a group of business and dormitory men. On the fifth floor H. H. Vreeland, Reg- istrar of the Scientific Department of the University, and some years ago known to you as Secretary of the Association work in that department, was meeting with our Boys' Secre- tary Van Dis and a group of boys' leaders from the churches of the city. On the dormitory floors Secretary George Stewart, now a successor of Mr. Vreeland as Yale Secretary, was doing personal work among the dormitory men; while Secretary Murray Chism of the Yale Academic from Dwight Hall was addressing a group of Senior Gymnasium men in the Gym- nasium. About 130 Yale men are doing committee service with our Industrial, Boys'-Work, and Physical Departments. We are STUDENT WORK— LOCAL AND INTERCOLLEGIATE 343 also cooperating in a somewhat smaller measure with the Yale Christian Association in their work." Yet more recently the following letter was received from the New Haven City Association : March 1, 1917. Dear Mr. Morse: The enclosed pamphlet tells how a department of Yale Uni- versity, the Yale School of Religion, is cooperating with the New Haven City Association Training Center to create a new and effective development in training for the Association voca- tion. Tribute has been laid upon a great University for help in solving the most difficult of all our Association problems. This is not an attempt to establish a new training college. It is not the announcement of a new financial burden to be borne by the brotherhood. It is simply the announcement of an affiliation of the New Haven Young Men's Christian Association and the Yale Chris- tian Association with the Yale School of Religion to meet the peculiar need felt by men who desire both an eastern Uni- versity degree and such Association courses of study and train- ing as they may be able to secure while working for this degree. Seven men are enrolled in the course the present year. Only men doing postgraduate work are to be admitted, and those who are carrying out this program not only hope to interest some young men toward the Association vocation, but also they believe that the simplicity of the scheme may be suggestive to other Associations located in great educational centers. Very sincerely yours, Judson J. McKim, General Secretary. John A. Van Dis, City Boys' Work Secretary. Lewis G. Bates, Physical Director. Lyman T. Crossman, Industrial Secretary. Relation to Inteecollegiatb Work In dealing with my relation to Student Association Work, it has seemed best to devote the narrative at first to my con- nection for many years with the local organization at Yale and to the development of its work within the university. From its origin in 1881 the Yale Association began to exert an intercollegiate influence, and in giving strength and im- pulse to the Student Association Movement it steadily strengthened its own work. Its good building, its succession of well selected Secretaries, and its growing committee or- 344 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN ganization, including oversight by its graduate committee, united to keep it among the stronger and more influential Student Associations. As already mentioned, delegates from all the colleges of New England and from Princeton were invited to the Yale campus one Sunday in February, 1883. !•• On another Sunday of this month, I attended at West Point a similar conference with the cadets and students from Yale, Princeton, and Cor- nell. It was a smaller gathering, but the same good spirit prevailed. On a third Sunday in Mount Vernon, Ohio, at the State Convention of the Associations, I met a student delega- tion numbering eighty-three undergraduates, from nearly all of the colleges in Ohio, and a new step of progress was taken in the student work of that state. Enlistment of D. L. Moody in Student Worh After the year 1870, when Moody began to give himself wholly to the work of an evangelist, on both sides of the At- lantic, everywhere he showed himself to be, incidentally but very effectively, the friend and promoter of the Associations in their work. His friendly offices were received and appre- ciated by them, chiefly in the larger cities, but with no thought on his part of an active relation to Association work in the colleges. In 1874, during his first evangelistic tour in England, there occurred in London a very remarkable conversion of the father of three sons, who became prominent students at Cambridge University. Each was in turn the captain of the university cricket team, and the eldest, Charles M. Studd, became a mem- ber of the All England Eleven with high rank in that elect group of athletes. Another son, Kynaston Studd, was an undergraduate at Cambridge when Moody was in England in 1882, and under his leadership a group of Christian students persuaded Moody and Sankey to visit Cambridge. This proved to be an unusual tax upon the strength and resources of the evangelists, but the result was so satisfactory that a similar invitation from Ox- ford was received and accepted, with results corresponding to those at Cambridge. When we became acquainted with the >"P. 334. STUDENT WORK— LOCAL AND INTERCOLLEGIATE 345 particulars of this experience, a desire was naturally awak- ened in Wishard and myself for the evangelistic cooperation of Moody at important student centers. We found him in doubtful mind about the wisdom of his entrance into the student field. Wishard was an undergraduate at Princeton during a sea- son of revival in the college in the winter of 1875-6, and during that season, Moody was holding a series of evangelistic meet- ings in Philadelphia. He spent a day at Princeton, making a deep impression upon the students. In 1878 he accepted an invitation from five hundred Yale students and equally favor- able results followed. In April, 1885, he consented to go to Princeton with us and spend a Sunday. He occupied the chapel pulpit and it was a day of profound religious interest among the students. The following Sunday he preached in the Chapel at Yale, in response to an invitation from President Porter. The interest here awakened was even more profound than at Princeton. An opportunity was offered the students to attend an evening meeting and at this second meeting an unusual number were present. At its close, after an earnest appeal, most of the students tarried for the more personal intercourse of an after-meeting. I went to Yale for this interesting day, with Henry Webster, a Princeton graduate of 1876, who had served for some years as McBumey's able and devoted Assistant Secretary in New York, and was now a member of the International Committee and Chairman of its Student Committee. We took part in the after-meeting, which was attended by many students. Pro- fessor George P. Fisher of the Yale Divinity School, and our college pastor when I was an undergraduate, was also with us in personal intercourse with the students who had been deeply impressed. Some twenty of these students expressed their purpose to begin the Christian life, and Moody was greatly encouraged by the response given to his message, here and later at other colleges. It was during this visit that he learned of the intention of Wishard, Ober, and myself to spend some time that summer in preparing a course of Bible study for the Student Associations and invited us to come to North- field for this purpose — an invitation the acceptance of which by us led to important results. 346 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN After his return in 1875 from Great Britain, Moody had removed his residence from Chicago to his native village of Northfleld, Massachusetts, and soon began to build up his seminary for girls, and later, on a site four miles distant across the Connecticut Eiver, the Mt. Hermon School for boys. Both schools are now well known round the world. Each year after his arduous evangelistic work, the summer was given to the care of the schools. Beginning in 1879 he also called to- gether each summer a conference of Christian workers, of both clergy and laity, for Bible study, prayer, and stimulating dis- cussion under his strong leadership. I had attended each of these summer meetings, when not prevented by absence at European Conferences. My asso- ciates, Wishard and Ober, also attended them. "In August," a family letter of the year 1885 records, "I was busily occupied at Northfleld almost the entire month. For two weeks (5th to 15th) we attended the conference called by Mr. Moody and enjoyed its sessions exceedingly. Be- fore and after these days I joined our two college Secretaries in some interesting Bible study. We prepared a schedule of lessons which we hope will prove of service in the Bible classes of our college and city Associations. We were pleasantly situated in a small farmhouse overlooking the valley of the Connecticut with a wide view of river, plain, and mountain ever before us. In the foreground a Boston artist was en- deavoring to put on canvas what he pronounced the finest land- scape in New England !" Our purpose was two-fold, to work out the Bible study course and to enlist Moody's interest in the enlargement of the student stafE of our Committee. There was urgent call for Ober outside the Student Movement. His support as an Inter- national Secretary had not been completely secured and I shared heartily Wishard's solicitude that this support should be obtained in the interest of the Student Work. Already Moody had given practical help in raising the fund needed and an incident this summer deepened his personal interest in Ober. Within a week of the conference he had suffered a severe loss in the sudden breakdown in health of the manager of his school property. In distress he informed us that he felt compelled to issue a notice calling off his conference. This led Wishard to inform him that Ober as an undergraduate STUDENT WORK— LOCAL AND INTERCOLLEGIATE 347 at Williams College had for some years managed efficiently the large boarding establishment of the students and was qualified to render the help Moody now needed. This led to Ober's undertaking this work at Northfleld not only in 1885, but for the next five summers, and opened the path for him during many more years to render similar valuable service by counsel and cooperation in connection with Student Confer- ences in other sections of the continent. In this first instance it was one of the influences which deepened Moody's interest in increasing the student staff of the Committee and for some years it was owing to his generous solicitation of support for this staff that the Committee was able to increase its efficiency. Kynaston Studd's Cooperation Secured At this time Mr. and Mrs. Kynaston Studd were guests at Moody's home. They had come to America on their wedding tour. After graduating at Cambridge, Mr. Studd had become associated with Quentin Hogg, in the conduct of the London Polytechnic Institute — founded and supported by Mr. Hogg — a work for young men kindred in purpose and method to our Association work. One evening in the Eeception Eoom of East Hall, Mr. Studd gave a very interesting account of the remarkable foreign missionary interest awakened some years before among the students of Cambridge, a group of whom known as "The Cambridge Band" and composed of prominent students went out to China as foreign missionaries in connec- tion with the China Inland Mission. Among them was Studd's older brother, Charles T. Studd. Before leaving for the foreign field, these students had made a tour of the British universities, promoting among students an unusual interest in foreign missions. This vivid story of effective appeal by a band of Student Volunteers made upon both Wishard and Ober so lasting an impression that a year later it was recalled and helped to give shape to an American Student Volunteer Movement more enduring and extended than that of the Cam- bridge Band. We also listened to a Bible reading from Studd, who became interested in the Bible work in which we were engaged. This intercourse led to a proposal, in which Moody heartily joined us, that Studd should spend as much time as he and Mrs. 348 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Studd could spare the following college year — 1885-6 — in visiting our colleges in such a tour as we could agree upon. We asked him to tell at each university the foreign mission story, to which we had listened, and to give a message on Bible study. With the help of Moody this arrangement was car- ried out; four months were devoted to a work that proved very helpful to the students and Associations visited. In eight states, twenty-three colleges and schools were visited, including Harvard, Princeton, Yale — ^where Dwight Hall was dedicated that autumn — Williams, University of Virginia, Cornell, and in Canada, McGill and Toronto. He made nearly one hundred addresses and gave many Bible readings. In four states he met with State Student Conferences. In his report to the Committee Studd says: "The features of the work varied in different places. In some colleges the awakening in Bible study was most prominent, in others the quickening of Christian students to more personal work, and in others conversions." He adds, "Your organization is admir- able. The chief line on which it needs awakening seems to be personal, practical Bible study. Your Bible training classes are invaluable, if well looked after, and if the plan detailed in the 'Outline of Bible Study' (the pamphlet we had prepared in Northfield) is carried out. I am looking forward to commencing such a class with my workers in London. I cannot tell you what a happy time those four months were which I spent in this college work, and how I have thanked God for the experience." Among the many interesting testimonies we received con- cerning these visits of Mr. and Mrs. Studd, was one from a college where the impression they had made resulted, after they left, in a vigorous discussion, in which it was maintained that Mr. and Mrs. Studd had presented to students "the ideal of what the marriage relation should be in its best estate!" Beginnings of the Summer Conferences Another incident of our visit at Northfield that summer seems worth recording. One afternoon, Moody invited Studd, Wishard, Ober, and myself with our wives, to visit Mt. Her- mon with him to see the boys' school and the new building, the first Crossley Hall, which had just been completed. At STUDENT WORK— LOCAL AND INTERCOLLEGIATE 349 first we declined, under pressure of our work, but he insisted that we should take a holiday, so we accepted the invitation, little thinking of the long chain of events of which it was a first link. We went in a large four-seated wagon. Moody himself handled the reins in his usual and original manner. Most interesting was the story he told of his plan for the Northfield and Mt. Hermon schools, and what he wished their names to stand for, disclosing a purpose and plan now kn6wn and valued round the world. The two bridges since built across the Connecticut for the accommodation of the two growing institutions did not yet exist, even in the plan of the founder; so we crossed the river on the old ferry-boat, pro- pelled by hand power, projected along a heavy wire stretched over the water. Moody's errand at Mt. Hermon that day was to give a talk to the boys on "How to be a Good Public Speaker," a theme of which certainly he was master. He desired us to visit the grounds and buildings while he was talking to the boys, but we insisted on hearing the talk! It was altogether the best treatment of the subject to which I ever listened, and came from the brain of a master workman, who had been taught in the high school and university of lifelong experience. As he talked I was reminded of what his aged mother had once said to me, in the house where he was born: "When Dwight was only a little boy, he was fond of going up into the garret and trying to make a speech all alone !" He had had opportunity to listen to each of us four older boys, who were now part of his audience, in our attempts at public discourse, and he had discerned in each of us more than one fault calling for criticism. When he began to speak of faults which should be avoided he selected one glaring deficiency in the manner of each of us four, as worthy of special emphasis. This added greatly to the interest with which we followed the treatment of his theme, as it very evi- dently added to the enjoyment of the speaker and of our wives! On our way home we openly raised the question with him as to how, under the circumstances, he ought to be dealt with by us in a, manner justified by his conduct. Quick as a flash he turned and said, "Do you fellows think I was talking to you? I was talking to your wives !" 350 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN As we rode through the woods behind the Mt. Hermon build- ings our driver pointed out among the trees a frame building, and said, "There is a house which was used by the men who put up Crossley Hall. Why couldn't you bring a group of Association Secretaries up here next summer to spend your vacation time in studying the Bible together as you have been doing this summer? I will give them the use of this and other buildings if they will come!" Without giving the husbands a chance to reply, the wives to whom he had been "talking" at his lecture, with one voice declined the invitation emphati- cally, saying that when their husbands did take a vacation they were not to take it in company with other Secretaries, and keep on with their work ! Mr. Moody enjoyed the answer, and felt that he had been justified in "talking to the wives." When we men were allowed to answer his suggestion, we told him that our Secretaries had a conference early every summer like the one he had addressed in Baltimore in 1879, and that it would be diflScult to bring them here to a second meeting of the kind he had suggested. "But," said Wishard, "we might bring college students." "Well," said Moody, "bring them along. What I want is to have the buildings used to help in Christian work and Bible study." The incidents of this afternoon have often been recalled, because of this first suggestion of a conference, which from its beginning has not only proved in itself an agency of power- ful influence in promoting the Kingdom and rule of Christ among students and through them among all classes of men and women in many nations, but also has been the parent of a multitude of Student Conferences now meeting on this and every continent. First Student Summer Conference — 1886 The three International Secretaries who received this offer from Moody were favorably impressed by it. Wishard strongly followed up the proposal, and later in the year, when Moody was reminded of his offer, a more formal arrangement was made. Moody issued the call to the college Associations, now num- bering two hundred and twenty-six on the list furnished to him from the International office. The International Secre- STUDENT WORK— LOCAL AND INTERCOLLEGIATE 351 taries followed this up by correspondence and visitation. Each Association was asked to send at least one delegate, to spend a month at Mt. Hermon, in July, 1886, in order "to study the Bible and methods of Christian work adapted to college students." This invitation, urgently followed up, was accepted by two hundred and fifty students from ninety Associations in twenty- two States and Canada— a great advance certainly upon the response by college students to the call inviting them to the Louisville Convention in 1877. These students continued in session at Mt. Hermon from July 6th to August 2nd. The largest delegation — fifteen- came from Randolph and Macon College, Virginia; Williams and Dartmouth each sent thirteen. Among the latter were Hans P. Andersen and Ozora Davis. Princeton and Cornell each sent ten. Among the former was Robert P. Wilder and among the latter John R. Mott. From Iowa came thirteen, representing nine institutions. McGill, Toronto, and Queens sent four students from Canada ; Yale sent seven and Harvard three. The delegations from Dartmouth, Williams, and Cor- nell were due to wise and effective visitation by Charles K. Ober. Of his visit to Cornell he has written as follows: "To one of Mr. Studd's meetings during the winter (1885-6) at Cornell an influential but skeptical sophomore by the name of John R. Mott was attracted out of curiosity to see a British university man. The speaker's message was upon vital Chris- tianity. It made a deep impression on the sophomore, result- ing in his spiritual awakening, and when I visited Cornell a few months later I found him President of the Cornell Chris- tian Association and ready to join me in working up a delega- tion of ten men including himself to the student conference at Mt. Hermon." There assembled at Mt. Hermon by far the largest meeting of College Association students which had yet been held. More important than its size was the fact that the sessions continued for twenty-six days, growing steadily in interest and in helpful influence upon the students. The attendance and program were part of the fruit of ten years of vigorous propaganda. The movement already was exciting the atten- tion of leading educators. One of these, Professor Roswell D. 352 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Hitchcock of Union Seminary in New York City, recently had said: "The Young Men's Christian Association is, today, the great fact in the religious life of our colleges." In the retro- spect of these ten years, Wishard mentions reports of about ten thousand conversions. Many had graduated and had be- come Association Secretaries — not as many as we needed, but many more than would have otherwise come to us. A much larger number, like the three leading young Directors of the Chicago Association, Houghteling, McCormick, and Farwell, had become volunteer Association ofiflcers, directors, and work- ers. Also from the foreign mission field already were reported among the fruits of this student movement Associations in Jaffna College, Ceylon; in Tungchow, Foochow, and Peking, China; and in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan. At Mt. Hermon, every morning at eight o'clock, an hour was devoted to a conversational discussion of some phase of Student Association Work. The erection of new buildings at Yale and Toronto was reported, and the employment by these two Associations, for the coming year, of the only student General Secretaries yet obtained by local college Associations. All other phases of Student Work were dealt with. At the request of the Student Secretaries, I read a paper on the whole movement in North America and the world, emphasizing the responsible relation to it of the student Associations. Two hours each day we spent in hearing addresses on fundamental scriptural truth and in asking and answering questions in relation to it. The afternoons were free for sports and exercise, and also for invaluable and intimate personal intercourse of students with one another, with the speakers to whose addresses they had listened, and with local. State, and International Secre- taries who were present, and from whom they could learn more in detail about the different phases of Association work. Be- tween thirty and forty students were so deeply impressed with the claims of Association work that they began a closer study of it. A significant greeting was sent from this conference. It gave expression to A, strong intelligent sympathy with the Young Women's Christian Associations whose delegates were about to convene at Lake Geneva, to form a national organi- STUDENT WORK— LOCAL AND INTERCOLLEGIATE 353 zation.ii In this greeting these college men expressed their confident belief that as "God has blest the exclusive evan- gelical work of young men for young men so He wiU bless the work of young women for young women." This adjective "exclusive" seems to hark back to the work of separation and readjustment in coeducational colleges which the college Secretaries had helped to promote. The message showed a brotherly consciousness of the fact that this year, so memorable to the senders of it, was also to be signal- ized by a forward movement of the college Young Women's Christian Associations. There was in the greeting also promise of a future fellowship to be ultimately consummated between these student organizations of young men and young women. Indeed one of the nine students who signed the greet- ing for the 251 college delegates at Mt. Hermon was John R. Mott, who in due time, as successor of Luther Wishard and Charles K. Ober, was to advance upon what they had accom- plished on behalf of women students, by uniting university young men and young women in the World's Student Chris- tian Federation.12 The Conference as an Agency of Supervision From the point of view of leaders of Association super- vision, both international and state, the Student Movement had reached a stage of development when such an annual meeting as was now assembled for the first time was impera- tively needed. As yet only two local Student General Secre- taries at Yale and Toronto had been employed, while two hun- dred and twenty-six Associations had been formed. The seventy Railroad Associations were employing sixty-one Secre- taries.13 This contrast in the provision of local secretarial leadership emphasized the need of an increased supervision for the Student Work, which would give such opportunity for " In August, 1886, this organization waa formed at Point Galley, on Lake Geneva. M P. 384. "The following comparison of annual ejipenditure by the International Committee for the College nnd Railroad Work emphasizes the need of the former for the reenforcement given by this conferential agency of supervision: College Work for the Year 1880 »1.4p?09 B- R-.^^ork «3,190.00 1886 1889 . 1910 .. 1915 .. 7,114.00 " 3,952.00 9,600.00 " 7,300.00 .'." 45,818.00 " 32,233.00 .. 67,222.00 " 31,819.00 354 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN training volunteer student workers as this conference fur- nished. Wishard had one associate in Charles K. Ober. But a staff of more than two College Secretaries was urgently needed and was not secured until some years after this conference. When Ober withdrew in 1891 from the college staff, Moody in the conference of that year strongly cooperated in soliciting the support of his successor, Fletcher S. Brockman. During these years, State Secretaries were giving valuable help. But the staff of local undergraduate ofiflcers and the entire student membership were very transitory. Under such conditions, an annual meeting of student workers seemed of incalculable value as a conferential agency of wise supervision. Here could come together representative student leaders, graduate and undergraduate, to meet one another and the experts in super- vision, for such instruction, consultation, and conference as would enable undergraduates to return to their colleges better equipped for the work in which they were leaders, and with a knowledge of methods which had been tested in experience elsewhere. No event of the ten years past was more promising in its outlook for this work in the years to come than this Mt. Hermon Conference. Its value appears also in the fact that it became the parent of similar conferential agencies of super- vision at the central and far West, the South, in Canada, and in other lands throughout the world. While the entire force of the International Committee in its Student Department, with cooperation from other members of that staff, were so identified with this conference as to be essential both to its conception, program, and administration, it was not formally called by the International Committee. This was due to the happy circumstance that Moody was the host of the conference, and his contribution as host and his relation to all other meetings held in his buildings and on the grounds made him the partner, in whose name the meeting was called. He could not have consented to any other arrange- ment. It was with this in mind that Wishard in his annual report of 1887, giving account of the Mt. Hermon Conference, states expressly "that it was not under the auspices or control of the Committee, which assumed no responsibility toward it." STUDENT WORK— LOCAL AND INTERCOLLEGIATE 355 This Statement, however, goes too far. The call was not sent out in the name of the Committee, but a real and vital responsi- bility was assumed by it when its Secretaries suggested the meeting, gave it their essential cooperation, and appealed to all the Committee's college constituency to be represented. All this was done with the sanction and full cooperation of the sub-committee on the College Work and of the General Secre- tary, acting with the Committee's approval. Under the cir- cumstances, the calling of the conference could issue from no one but the host of the conference. But the essential partner- ship and responsibility of the Committee and its agents were strongly pronounced, and the Committee acted safely within the discretion given it by the Convention. It is important to give this testimony out of an intimate connection with the event, because there has been some quite natural misunderstanding of the meaning of the statement which I have quoted from Wishard's report. Other expres- sions current at the time were equally capable of a misleading interpretation. Second Student Conference — Northfield, 1887 To the Summer Conference of 1887, in addition to over three hundred students from nearly one hundred colleges, came over one hundred City Association Secretaries and laymen specially invited by the International Secretaries. To this conference also Dr. John A. Broadus of Louisville gave stimu- lating Bible instruction. A guest specially invited by Moody was Professor Henry Drummond of Glasgow, Scotland. He had been one of Moody's strongest fellow workers during his labors in Great Britain. Drummond gave to the students his wonderful message on "The Greatest Thing in the World," as described in I Cor. XIII. He was welcomed with the same appreciation he had received from the students of Scotland and was urgently invited to visit the leading colleges repre- sented at Northfield. All the time he could give during the following college year was fully occupied with helpful visits to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, and other colleges. He not only carried a blessing to the students who listened to him, but he also gave stimulus to the work of inter- visitation by the Christian students of the colleges and schools. 356 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN The Northfield Student Conference of 1888 During Wishard's long journey (1888-92) important develop- ments took place in the Student Work. For the preparation and promotion of the third Student Summer Conference (1888) Charles K. Ober was responsible and administered efficiently his important trust. A New International Secretary A most interesting incident of the Northfield Conference of 1888 occurred at a session in which the students listened to a few speakers from among themselves. These had been selected and asked to tell of their own convictions concerning the value of the summer conference and to give reasons for its continu- ance and enlargement. As the speaker who made the deepest impression on his fellow students was closing his address, Moody turned to me as we sat together on the platform and said : "You ought to keep your eye on that young man !" "Yes," I replied, "it is because already we are doing so that he is speaking here today." The young man was John E. Mott, who had graduated that year at Cornell University. He had become a Student Vol- unteer at Mt. Hermon two years before and was one of the four volunteers who were prevented from spending the follow- ing year in the student tour with Wilder. But, with the nine other Cornell delegates at Mt. Hermon, he had returned to the university and under his strong leadership such excellent reli- gious work among the students resulted that the vigilant at- tention of Charles Ober was attracted to it. Also as a dele- gate from Cornell, Mott attended the New York State Conven tions in February, 1886, 1887, and 1888. The meeting of 1888 was held in New York City at a time when the plans for Wishard's long absence on his missionary world journey had matured and Ober had made up his mind that Mott was the strong student leader of promise needed by the Committee as his indispensable associate if he was to undertake successfully the responsibilities which Wishard had been carrying. Accord- ingly at New York in February, 1888, in the absence of Ober at the West, Wishard after an evening's conference with Mott came with him to our office and in an interview with me, the STUDENT WORK— LOCAL AND INTERCOLLEGIATE 357 proposal to join the Committee's college staff was made to him, the concurrence of the college sub-committee — Henry H. Web- ster and Cleveland H. Dodge — having been secured. Mott re- turned to Cornell promising to consider the call. Ober on his return from the West, learning that favorable response from Mott had not yet been received, went at once to Cornell and it was in conference with him that Mott was prevailed upon to accept "for a year only" the position of second College Secre- tary of the Committee. Many years afterward Ober asked him, "What if I had insisted on a longer term than only one year?" "My reply," he answered, "would have been 'No.' " This proved to be an enlistment of the strongest of the hundred volunteers at Mt. Hermon, who became capable of giving a world leader- ship to the world work of which those Volunteers had caught a vision. Later in the conference, when Moody was asked by a student in the audience who was the new International Student Sec- retary, at his request Mott stood up and was recognized in his new position. Without knowing it, Moody was really intro- ducing to us 'the man who was to succeed him for many years as president of the Northfield Student Conference. As a Student Volunteer, detained at the home base in the interest of the foreign missionary enterprise, Wishard had wrought for eleven years as a Student Secretary of the Com- mittee. The acceptance for a year of this position gave Mott opportunity to make trial of what he could accomplish as a College Secretary, in carrying out his pledge as a Student Volunteer. It was the temporary and experimental feature of the arrangement that at the outset prevailed with him, and he began his work as the associate of Mr. Ober two months after the conference of 1888. Various Features of the Conferences ' A noteworthy feature of the early Northfield delegations was the presence of athletes of reputation. The sports in the afternoons and on the Fourth of July, reenforced by the pres- ence of these leading college athletes, began to give early em- phasis to this desirable recreative feature. No one gave to it more encouragement than did Moody, as the host of the con- ference. No New England college athlete was better known 358 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN or more highly respected at that time than Alonzo A. Stagg of Yale. Before his graduation in 1888 he was a member of the Yale delegation at Northfleld, and that summer he became General Secretary in Dwight Hall and was the first to hold the oflSce for two years. His good influence as a leader in Christian work at Yale was given an intercollegiate extension by his attendance at Northfield, not only as an undergraduate but as an alumnus. Later he was a student in the Physical De- partment of the Association Training School (now a college) at Springfield, Massachusetts, and was then called by President Harper of the University of Chicago to be head of the Physical Department in that institution, where he found his life work as an instructor. To boys he was almost an object of worship. I recall being with him at the Springfield station one day en route to Northfield, when this look of adoration appeared on the face of a small newsboy. I asked the little chap if he knew who the young man was who was stepping on the train. With a look of amazement he replied, "You bet! Don't you know? It's our Stagg!" "Would you like to shake hands with him?" I asked. "Come along!" So I took him into the train and said — "Stagg, here's some one who wants to shake hands with you." Stagg instantly responded and his manner was as genial and friendly as if he had been speaking to some fellow athlete. He was preeminent in attractive approach to men individually. Once in calling on me with a report of progress, he brought with him a long list of names of fellow students, in whom he and his associates had been especially interested. Opposite some of the names were written the letters O. O. I asked their meaning and he said, "Why, that means that those men are out and out for Christ !" And N. G. stood for "no good." He was representative of a group of strong men of fine athletic and Christian repute, who were active in both local and International Student Work. Their presence, fellowship, and cooperation were very helpful to the Student Movement. Some account has been given of attendance upon the first three Student Conferences (1886, 1887, and 1888). Of the first twenty I was absent from only one, and for most of this period my presence among the leaders was deemed of importance. Association appointments in Europe were arranged for me so as to provide for such attendance. STUDENT WORK— LOCAL AND INTERCOLLEGIATE 359 At one of these conferences during their first decade Dr. Faunce as a speaker chose as his theme— without any previous announcement of it— "The Three Great Evangelists of the Nineteenth Century." He described them as differing from one another in many respects, but as resembling each other in this —that each in later life felt strongly impelled to emphasize his conviction of the importance of education and the edu- cational institution. Charles Finney had left as his memorial Oberlin University; Charles Spurgeon the institutions he founded in London; and we were now met, students from a hundred academies and colleges, as guests of the greatest of these evangelists upon the grounds of the seminaries he had founded and was fostering for the education of our youth. It was an interesting and impressive address, listened to by a very responsive and appreciative audience. At its close an errand of importance caused me to seek Moody at his home. The door was open and I passed from the hall into his study without ceremony. I was at once aware that I had intruded upon a conversation between Mrs. Moody and himself. Both assured me I was welcome and Mrs. Moody, referring to what was giving evident concern to both of them, asked: "Mr. Morse, do you think any one would get the im- pression that we had had anything to do with Dr. Faunce's choice and treatment of the subject upon which he spoke to- night?" I gave every assurance I could that no such thought was likely to enter the mind of any listener and that what had been said seemed to me most fitting and interesting. In the fifteenth year of these conferences one of the dele- gates who had come first as an undergraduate and then as a beloved leader and teacher. Professor Henry B. Wright of the Yale Class of 1898 and for three years (1898-1901) General Secretary of the Yale Association, thus describes some of their interesting features :^* "As we near the ground (at Northfield), every spot has some bit of interest to the newcomer or awakens fond memories in the veteran of past conferences. Round Top and Senior Glen recall those informal hours in the early morning or on a Sun- day afternoon, when the great Evangelist, seated in his big armchair beneath the trees, answered informally the number " "Two Centuries ol Christian Activity at Yale," pp. 242-245. 360 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN less questions of life and practice raised by the eager inquirers who sat at his feet. Stone Hall, made memorable by the first of the great addresses of Henry Drummond upon 'The Greatest Thing in the World,' which awoke the college world of America in 1887, stands near the center of the ground, while behind rise those quiet Northfleld hills with their undisturbed retreats in which many a man has wrestled out alone his life problems and gone forth to a career of usefulness. Or perhaps one reaches the Conference a few days after the sessions have already begun. . . . The buildings rise all about bright with college flags and colors, while far above and crown- ing all, from the top of the great auditorium floats the Stars and Stripes. . . . From Marquand Hall down in the valley a college song is borne on the breeze and when it dies away a sharp and stirring college cheer from another direction announces the arrival of some belated delegate to the confer- ence. After a while a convent bell of unusual sweetness begins to toll from the tower of East Hall and instantly the songs and fun of the afternoon cease and little groups of men with their coats on their arms pass over through a field of standing grain "to Eound Top, a small knoll directly back of Mr. Moody's house. Here, in the calm of the gathering twilight as the sun goes down in red and gold behind the hills, leaving the still waters of the Connecticut all aflame in the valley below, some man well known in the outside world talks frankly and fairly on the choice of a life work. . . . Amid such scenes and associations for fifteen years college students have gathered from all over the land ... to dis- cuss methods and to receive an inspiration for efiScient Chris- tian work." The Succession of International Student Secretaries, To Wishard and Ober as chief Student Secretaries, Mott succeeded in 1890. Already he was chairman of the Student Volunteer Movement. Upon Wishard's withdrawal in 1898, he became chief Secretary of the Committee's Foreign Work. In each of these oflSces, upon the elect junior Secretaries whom he was diligently calling to his aid, he placed every responsi- bility they were fit to carry. He knew how to depute wisely and therefore safely. He parted with leadership gradually, as his own responsibilities and fellow workers multiplied. After he undertook the Associate General Secretaryship in 1901, according to the arrangement he had entered into, Edward C. Carter, our efiQcient chief Secretary in India, was called to the STUDENT WORK— LOCAL AND INTERCOLLEGIATE 361 home field to become chief Student Secretary in 1907 and in 1912 Charles D. Hurrey, equally acceptable as chief Secretary in South America, succeeded Carter. When Hurrey withdrew in 1915 to undertake a new work in the service of students, David R. Porter, already for many years a very efiScient mem- ber of the Committee's staff in its work not only for students but also for boys in the City Work and in preparatory and high schools, undertook most acceptably the leadership of the Stu- dent Work. As these Secretaries succeeded one another, they resisted more and more successfully the tendency and disposi- tion to lean on Secretary Mott. CHAPTER XVIII THE OUTREACH TO OTHER LANDS The Mt. Hermon Conference had an invaluable relation to the eflBciency of Student Association Work. But it has been more widely and conspicuously known in its relation to the origin and growth of the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions, the Foreign Work of the North American Associations, and the World's Student Christian Federation. The Student Volunteer Movement From the beginning of its sessions the interest in work on the foreign field grew steadily, owing to the prayerful and faithful earnestness of Robert P. Wilder. Before coming to Mt. Hermon he and thirteen of the delegates either had de- cided to go or were seriously thinking of going as missionaries to the foreign field. For months Wilder and his sister had been praying that more students might be made willing to go to that field as missionaries. The opportunity at Mt. Hermon to enlist such students he had accepted as an answer to these united prayers, and as he improved it at the conference he felt sustained and prospered by the continued prayers of the sister at home. Every evening the band of volunteers met for prayer under his leadership. Soon all who were thinking seriously on the subject were called together and twenty-one signed the declaration to go which had been adopted in 1883 by the Students' Foreign Missionary Society at Princeton. As the days and weeks of the conference passed, the volume of interest increased until the number of students who had decided to sign was increased to one hundred. The year before this Secretaries Wishard and Ober had been deeply impressed by the experience of "the Cambridge Band" as Studd had described it to us. Two days before the final meeting, during a tramp over the hills near the Vermont border with a few of the leaders among the volunteers, all agreed that the message to which they had responded ought 362 THE OUTREACH TO OTHER LANDS 363 to be carried to the multitude of their fellow students who had not heard it. Ober, recalling the experience of the Cam- bridge Band, suggested to Wilder and his associates a similar tour of the American colleges by a band chosen from these volunteers. To select the visiting deputation, to secure the money needed, and to arrange for the visits by correspondence seemed practicable. For the deputation four were selected: Eobert P. Wilder of Princeton, John K. Mott of Cornell, William P. Taylor of Yale, and L. M. Kiley of De Pauw. These were chosen at the suggestion of Secretary Ober by a committee appointed in a conference of the leaders. Toward securing the fund needed a telegram was sent by Wishard to a life-long friend and layman leader in Association work, Daniel W. McWilliams of Brooklyn, asking for an interview with him in the near future. The reply to this telegram appeared in the person of this friend, tried and true, who came to Mt. Hermon for the closing Saturday and Sunday of the conference, entered fully into the plan proposed and offered the fund needed, pro- vided the tour was undertaken in connection with our college department and under supervision of our College Secretaries. I was disappointed in not being able to remain for the entire conference, owing to a double call from abroad to attend at Geneva a "Plenar" or full meeting of the World's Committee and in Paris to perform another errand^ which resulted in Association propaganda and missionary effort in Europe. The urgency of this call made it necessary for me to leave Mt. Hermon with Mrs. Morse at the end of the first week of the sessions. On my return in September, Wishard and Ober promptly reported to me the extraordinary missionary interest at Mt. Hermon which was finally to result in the Student Volunteer Movement. The situation as they described it at that time seemed a very critical one. For of the visiting band of four Student Volunteers three, greatly to their own disappointment, had found that it was not in their power to carry out this plan. Only Eobert P. Wilder, the promoter and leader at Mt. Her- mon, was now able and ready to enter upon the proposed cam- paign. I heartily sympathized with the solicitude expressed by the two College Secretaries and which chiefly related to: 1 Pp. 232-6. 364 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN first, securing substitutes for the three who could not go with Wilder and, second, keeping this movement in vital connection with the local Student Associations as part of their work, giving of its spiritual life to that work, and receiving in turn reciprocal benefit. There existed in the beginning, so they reported, some tendency to make a separate organization of this movement in each college, a tendency which we felt should be discouraged. I also consented to act as treasurer of the special fund needed, according to the wish of its donor. The First Student Volunteer Tour As an associate of Wilder, John N. Forman, a graduate of Princeton who had not been at Mt. Hermon but who was a student volunteer, was ready to go and was gladly accepted. At its next meeting the college sub-committee, Henry H. Web- ster and Cleveland H. Dodge, agreed to this program and the Student Secretaries, Wishard and Ober, undertook the direc- tion and arrangement of their visits among the colleges. The marvellous response in college after college to the appeals of these two missioners exceeded all expectation. In the spring of 1887 before the second Student Conference met in Northfield "2,100 students — 1,600 young men and 500 young women" — were reported to have signed the volunteer pledge and the venerable Dr. James McCosh, President of Princeton College, impressively asked: "Has any such offering of living young men and women been presented in our age? in our country? in any age or country since the day of Pentecost?" Outside the student realm, in the City Association Move- ment some missionary impression and impulse were received. While Wilder was in Minneapolis he improved an opportunity to meet a group of the City Association members. In response to his appeal for the young men of non-Christian lands a fund was raised amounting to about |1,000, and was placed in a bank awaiting opportunity for its wise expenditure. Soon after (Oct. 27-30) the Minnesota Convention met and when this fund was reported, in accord with the counsel of Secretary Ober who was present, it was voted to hold this as a fund for the support of the first Foreign Secretary who should be sent out by the North American Associations, but whose mission was not authorized until nearly two years later, Richard C. Morse in 1886 THE OUTREACH TO OTHER LANDS 365 In Pittsburgh Wilder's message so deeply impressed its General Secretary, Eobert A. Orr, one of the strongest leaders among City Association Secretaries, that he wrote for The Watchman, then the periodical of the North American Asso- ciations (April, 1887) an article suggesting "An investigation by the International Committee to discover whether in Cal- cutta, Canton, and other cities of heathendom there is a field for Association work on the model of our city Associations, and, if there is, that to one of these cities a first-class Secretary be sent supported by us through a collection taken upon a missionary day. Can we not do something to show the young men who are so far away from us that we are anxious in the spirit of our Lord to bring them into His fellowship and serv- ice? I have no plan. I simply record my conviction. Some other man may have a plan." Such a plan was certainly ma- turing at the time these words were written. Two months after Robert Orr's letter was printed, the second Student Conference met on the better equipped Northfield campus, where the annual sessions have ever since been continued. Through the agency of Moody a message of historic interest was brought to this conference by two missionaries — Dr. Jacob S. Chamberlain, a veteran of many years in India, and Rev. George W. Chamberlain of Brazil, one of my classmates at Princeton Seminary. The former made an appeal of unusual urgency, asserting that the time was ripe in India for a travel- ing Association Secretary and for several local Secretaries in the principal cities. This appeal was seconded and confirmed as to Brazil by George Chamberlain. These messages strength- ened Wishard in a purpose he was forming, as a faithful Stu- dent Volunteer, to undertake a thorough visitation of the mis- sionary colleges and city centers of Asia, if a suflScient fund could be secured to provide for an extended tour which might be prolonged for several years. As early as 1878 in the second year of his work he had heard a call from Japanese students organized "as Believers in Jesus" at an agricultural college in that country. A few years later, before Frank K. Sanders and Harlan P. Beach set out on missionary errands for India and China, he was in communication with them about the Student Association Work which they initiated in both those countries. 366 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Opportunities in Japan In the year before the Mt. Hermon Conference, and in ad- dition to calls that came to Wishard from colleges on the for- eign field, an appeal had come to me from Osaka, Japan. In this second city of that empire, a band of Christian young men had been led to organize a Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation. In a communication strongly endorsed by the mission- aries, they sent to our Committee in New York and also to the London Association a request for |1,500 from friends in each of these two cities. A similar request for help was sent to Australia. With these gifts they desired to secure an Asso- ciation building and equipment. Word came to me from Lon- don that a favorable response would be sent from there if we also would respond favorably. From a few friends I secured the sum needed, while from Australia as well as from London similar help was sent to Osaka. Soon after one of the Amer- ican donors, Elbert B. Monroe, was making a layman's mis- sionary journey around the world and arrived at Osaka, toward the close of that year 1885. On examining the situation he added $1,000 to what he had already given. During the fol- lowing year, while the Student Volunteer Movement was be- ginning at Mt. Hermon, the Osaka building was completed and dedicated. This was the beginning of a provision for city Asso- ciation work in Japan— a beginning which could be followed up efficiently only by men from America, qualified to lead in the development of well organized Association work. One Amer- ican Secretary, Charles K. Ober, at this very time saw so clearly this need in Osaka of an Association Secretary that he decided to go if the path was opened to him. In such event he would have reached Asia in 1887 as our first Foreign Work Secre- tary. Secretary Orr's suggestion in The Watchman of April, 1887, was seen by Ober and was recognized by him as in line with what he desired to accomplish in Osaka, but providential developments at this time claimed his missionary service at the home base. Thus the urgent call for Association work had come from two widely separated parts of non-Christian lands and from the representatives of the churches in that broad and needy field. The beginning of a favorable response was also discernible. THE OUTREACH TO OTHER LANDS 367 To this second Student Conference came still another sig- nificant appeal, also through Moody. The Japanese govern- ment schools desired teachers of English. The favorable reply we already had sent to the request from Osaka suggested to them asking our help in meeting this need also. The teachers could give the instruction desired without knowledge of the Japanese language. Outside of school hours, they would be at liberty to teach the Bible to any pupils who might desire such instruction. There was no provision for traveling expenses, but the salary offered would enable a teacher, in due time, to repay any advance on the cost of his journey. This opportunity appealed to students who were glad to make trial of the foreign field before committing themselves to it for life. A Yale graduate at the conference, John Trum- bull Swift, who was Secretary of the Association in Orange, N. J., was led to consider this call favorably, as did several others. It was proposed to form a "Foreign Education Com- mittee," to promote desirable responses to this opportunity. Of this committee Elbert B. Monroe consented to be chairman if I would act as executive secretary. We then enlisted four Secretaries of four foreign mission Boards to serve on the com- mittee. It was a new'phase of union foreign mission effort pro- moted by Association workers. Mr. Swift was the first of thirteen teachers sent out by this committee.^ The chairman advanced the traveling expenses of the first teacher as a first contribution to the fund. In his desire to go to Japan the purpose of Swift was to devote all his leisure time to such Bible teaching and Associa- tion work for young men as he found practicable — a purpose which led to his eventually becoming the first American Asso- ciation Secretary sent to Asia. The International Committee had not as yet received any in- struction from the International Convention to establish Asso- ciation work in foreign lands. But from time to time cor- responding members of the Committee, all of whom were volun- teer workers, had been appointed on the foreign as well as on 2 Later this committee passed the work over to the Foreign Department of the Inter- national Committee. Out of it has grown an organization in Japan (1) holding an annual conference on the teaching of English and (2) pubhshing an English Teachers'^ Magazine. In 1912 the number of these "Association Teachers" as they are called, was 111 in sixty schools located in thirty cities. About twenty per cent have entered foreign missionary service and ten per cent the Association secretaryship. One teacher founded a mission so successful that it has undertaken to evangehze the province in which it is located. 368 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN the home field. As early as 1877 such a member had been ap- pointed for Australia ; in 1879 others for Japan and Syria, and in following years for Germany, Great Britain, the Hawaiian Islands, and Asia. Some of these were American missionaries, and in 1887 the corresponding member for Japan was Eev. James Ballagh. Soon after the Northfield Conference of 1887, the Foreign Education Committee was formed, and under its auspices Swift went to Japan in January, 1888, and found at once a position as teacher in Tokyo. During that year he was able to form a Student Association in the Imperial University, and to strengthen the City Association. Owing to what Swift was accomplishing, Ballagh resigned in his favor as corresponding member, and Swift was appointed in his place and thus came into a direct relation to the International Committee. Such opportunities for Association work were opened to him during this first year, that it was not difficult to obtain from friends in New York what was needed to enable him to give his entire time to Association work for young men. At the request of friends supporting him, the money was forwarded to him as a corresponding member of the Committee, by its Treasurer, pending such action as might be taken by the next International Convention in reference to his becoming an em- ployed officer of the Committee on the foreign field. Consultation with Church Foreign Mission Boards Meanwhile, the question of the employment of Secretaries on that field was carefully considered by the Committee. In consultation with Dr. Chamberlain about his urgent appeal, McBurney and I explained to him the relation and attitude of the Associations to the churches. Such a new departure could not be undertaken successfully unless we were acting with the hearty approval of the representatives of the churches on the foreign field, and also of the Boards of these churches at the home base. He heartily agreed and offered to cooperate with us in consulting with the Secretaries of these Boards. Already in forming the Foreign Education Committee, I was coming into fellowship with Secretaries of the American Board, the Presbyterian, the Reformed, and the Methodist Boards. The veteran Secretary of the Baptist Board, Dr. Ashmore, was THE OUTREACH TO OTHER LANDS 369 also actively in sympathy with our summons to the foreign mission field. Monroe and McBurney joined me in making a thorough consultation and in discovering a strong feeling favor- able to our undertaking Association work, in response to definite calls for it from the field. Dr. Chamberlain returned to India toward the close of 1887, with his son William I. Chamberlain, who was a member of the Brooklyn Association, and who, before going out with his father, accepted an appointment as corresponding member of the International Committee for India. Immediately on his arrival the subject of the appeal made at the Northfleld Con- ference was brought by him to the attention of the missionaries from all denominations and countries working in Madras and its vicinity, and early in 1888 a formal request was sent to the International Committee, signed by these missionaries, asking for an experienced Association Secretary to organize work for young men in India. Wishard's World Tour— 1888-92 During the year following the Northfleld Conference of 1887, Wishard's plans also were rapidly matured for a missionary tour of several years. Charles K. Ober had developed fine capacity to be his successor. The fund needed for Wishard's entire support during a long and expensive journey of several years was secured from a few donors in a canvass in which I was glad to cooperate. Of this fund I became treasurer and collector from year to year during his absence. In obtaining it Wishard developed a faculty and capacity heretofore un- exercised, which gave promise of his success in gaining support for the surely coming department of the International Com- mittee's work on the foreign field, including a growing staflE of Secretaries for that field. As these conditions favorable to Wishard's undertaking de- veloped, the Committee granted him leave of absence, appoint- ing C. K. Ober as his successor. Without instructions from the International Convention authorizing this work on the foreign field the Committee did not feel justified in sending Wishard beyond North America as its Secretary ; but as Amer- ican member of the World's Committee at Geneva I learned that that Committee was solicitous to undertake this extension 370 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN of Association work to non-Christian lands, though without funds or an agent for the purpose. At my suggestion Wishard was cordially accepted by them as their Secretary for the work of this tour, provided no expense to them was involved. These arrangements and adjustments were completed as early as March, 1888, and the fund provided for Wishai'd was ample enough for him to spend the next five months in Europe, securing the intelligent sympathy of the World's Committee, the World's Conference of 1888, and students at the universities, where he could obtain a hearing about the errand he was under- taking for students and other young men in Asia. Late in the summer after attending the Northfield Confer- ence of 1888, 1 met Wishard at the World's Conference in Stock- holm, and joined him in presenting to the delegates from fifteen countries his errand to the young men of less favored nations. The action of the World's Committee asking him to serve on this tour as their Secretary, was heartily endorsed. Before setting out on this journey he had approached David Mc- Conaughy, then General Secretary of the Philadelphia Asso- ciation, and was greatly encouraged by his willingness, if the way was opened, to go to India as the Committee's first Secre- tary in that country. In such an event, friends of McConaughy in Philadelphia had offered to provide his support. Crossing the Pacific and beginning in Japan in January, 1889, Wishard was joined by Swift and both accomplished an excellent pioneer work. After a year of teaching and volun- teer Association work in Japan, Swift now was giving his whole time to the Association, as an employed corresponding member of the International Committee. He had already organized in Tokyo three Student Associations, one of them in the Im- perial Uniyersity, and had visited Kobe and Osaka. In the latter city he discovered the great value of the work of Chris- tian unity accomplished in the new Association building in that city, and the meetings he held helped to promote this still farther. But he also discerned clearly the need of a local Secre- tary to organize in this building a distinctive Association work for young men. Swift and Wishard held a successful Student Conference on the lines followed at Northfield. In India and China Wishard received hearty welcome from the missionaries of the various churches. At Madras David McConaughy joined THE OUTREACH TO OTHER LANDS 371 him and became General Secretary in that city, and later National Secretary for India. In each portion of the field visited the time seemed ripe for the planting of the Associa- tion in both university and city centers. The tour, from which he returned early in 1892 after an absence of a little more than three years, was one that had been extended beyond pre- cedent throughout the foreign mission field and the Levant. The North-field Student Conference of 1888 Wishard was represented at Northfield in 1888 by eleven stu- dents from Oxford, Cambridge, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Utrecht, who came as a result of his college tour in Europe, and were favorably impressed with the Student Association Work. En route to Northfield they were entertained in New Haven at Dwight Hall by the Yale Association. Toward the close of the conference I invited these students to a dinner at the Northfield Hotel, during which we discussed the ques- tion, whether some similar intercollegiate fellowship and work was not practicable in Great Britain. All agreed that it was desirable. From such knowledge as these students could gain of the origin of our work in America, they concluded that a first step would be to secure from among British students a visiting Secretary like Wishard or Ober. As a result of the work of a competent man in such a position, the desired benefits could be obtained. It was by this method a few years later that this goal was reached. Soon after, from Christian students in these universities, came a request for further conference with those engaged in our college wofk. In response to these calls and a similar one from students in the Latin quarter of Paris, a member of the Yale graduate committee, actively identified with the work be- fore and after his graduation — James B. Reynolds — consented to go to Europe on this errand in February, 1889. His sup- port was generously provided by Elbert B. Monroe, and mem- bers of the Brooklyn Association. His visit extended beyond the universities of Great Britain to Upsala, Copenhagen, Ber- lin, Prague, Bonn, Leyden, Amsterdam, and Paris. Information concerning the American student work which he represented was received with interest and he was success- ful in promoting an attendance upon the Northfield Confer- 372 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN ence by students from Great Britain and a few from the con- tinental universities. This kept up a spirit of inquiry concern- ing effective Christian work among university students which was destined to get expression in a permanent form, under stronger leadership. Student Volunteer Movement — Ober, Wilder, Mott At Northfield in 1888 Mott was prominent and active among the Student Volunteers. Beyond any one else Ober appreciated the importance of prompt and strenuous effort, if the Student Volunteer Movement, begun at Mount Hermon, was to be effec- tively fostered and developed. What Wilder and Forman had accomplished in the college year of 1886-87 had not been fol- lowed up by a second tour in 1887 and '88. Ober saw that to continue the omission of an annual visitation would be disas- trous ; also that what had been accomplished needed to be more strongly related to, and identified with, the Student Associa- tion Movement. That Wilder was the preeminent man to do this, by another year given to the work, Ober also clearly dis- cerned. The good friend who had paid the expenses of the first tour, Daniel W. McWilliams, was at Northfield, and in conference with Ober, Mott, and myself, he generously offered what was needed for this second tour. At costly personal sacrifice Wilder consented to devote another year to this im- portant undertaking. What he now accomplished amounted to a reestablishment of the good work begun by his first en- thusiastic campaign, which, in late years, with fine discernment he has termed an era marked by "infuriatian" as well as by other more essential and enduring features. The wisdom, per- sistence, and capacity which he showed in this second endeavor confirmed his title as both founder and leader of the remark- able movement he initiated. Later in that college year the International Student Com- mittee at the suggestion of Ober cooperated in forming "The Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions," as an agency of three existing organizations : The Young Men's and the Young Women's Christian Associations and the Inter- Seminary Missionary Alliance of theological students — an alliance since merged in our Association Student Movement. In framing the Student Volunteer Executive Committee an THE OUTREACH TO OTHER LANDS 373 International Student Secretary was desired as Chairman. For this ofiBce Ober was the logical choice, but his insistence that Mott should be chosen prevailed with the International Student Committee. It is a position Mott has held and con- tinues to hold most efficiently until the present time (1917). The representatives of the other two agencies completed the Committee and Wilder for one year, until he went out to the foreign field, most fittingly served as its first visiting Secretary. This important service as a missionary delayed his depart- ure for India until 1891. On his way thither he visited the British universities, founded the British Student Volunteer Missionary Union, and also, in a visit to Norway and Denmark, begau the Scandinavian Student Volunteer Movement. After five years of fruitful service among the students of India he returned to the home base to organize (1897-99) with rare efficiency the theological section of our North American Stu- dent Movement and returned to India to serve first as Student and then as General Secretary of the National Young Men's Christian Association Council, until a stroke of the sun com- pelled his leaving that tropical climate. Then in Europe he improved opportunities of rendering occasional service to the students of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Switzerland, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, France, and Portugal, but chiefly those of Great Britain, where for eleven years (1906- 16) as a Secretary of the British Student Movement he was greatly blessed in his work. In 1916 he accepted the call of the International Committee to return once more to the home base and has become one of the associates of General Secretary Mott, as Senior Secretary for Keligious Work, intrusted with a major responsibility for the religious work policy of varied phases of the work of the International Committee in all its depart- ments. Official Establishment, Definition, and Early Progress of Foreign Association Work The Convention of 1889 at Philadelphia The two remarkable Student Conferences of 1887 and 1888 at Northfield had occurred between the International Conven- tions of 1887 and 1889. 374 MY LIB'E WITH YOUNG MEN They had presented to the Committee opportunities for ex- tension of Association work beyond North America, in the im- provement of which had been felt the need of such an authoriza- tion as could come alone from the Convention. Action had been taken, up to the limit of the Committee's discretion. This discretion had been defined by the Convention as permitting the Committee "in an emergency requiring immediate action to adopt such measures as may be necessary, not inconsistent with the action of preceding Conventions, reporting the same to the next succeeding Convention for its approval." Wishard, its College Secretary, had been granted leave of absence, and for a year had been occupied as a Secretary of the World's Committee with a mission on the foreign field, which his stu- dent work had opened to him and the expense of which had been met by friends outside of the Committee's treasury. One of the Committee's corresponding members, John Swift, was also being supported in Japan by other friends, and mem- bers of the Committee, with its General Secretary, were giving help and leadership to these new departures. The report of the Committee submitted by the chairman to the Convention of 1889 at Philadelphia stated these facts and developments. The Committee member most intimately connected with these forward movements — Elbert B. Monroe — ^himself strongly identified with the foreign mission work of the churches, pled the cause of the extension of North American Association work to the young men of non-Christian lands, an extension urgently asked for by representatives of the churches in those lands and by their leaders at the home base. He was followed by John T. Swift, who had come from Japan because of a conditional gift of $25,000 from an American friend toward a fund of $60,- 000 needed to erect suitable buildings for the city and uni- versity Associations in Tokyo. To secure the balance needed to insure and complete this fund was the object of his visit home at this time. To the best of my knowledge and belief at the time. Swift was himself the real donor of this remarkable initial gift for foreign Association buildings. The money was coming to him eventually — ^how soon I do not know. He diverted this patri- mony to this fund. Of this fact I received credible assurance at that time, but not directly from him. THE OUTREACH TO OTHER LANDS 375 First Two Foreign Secretaries Appointed The delegates listened very sympathetically to this plea of Elbert Monroe and, on motion of T. De Witt Cuyler, Chairman of the Committee on the International Committee's report, the Convention unanimously "Eesolved that the International Committee be empowered to establish such Associations and place such Secretaries in the foreign mission field as in its judgment may be proper, and to receive such contributions for this work as Associations may make to it." By this act of the Convention, Swift became the Committee's first Foreign Secretary, already established and at work on the field in Japan. The Committee also was placed in a position to accept the offer of the Philadelphia Secretary, David Mc- Conaughy, Jr., to go to India as its second Secretary, and to meet Wishard there. His support was promised by friends in Philadelphia. Wishard himself, while absent from the home field, was now, by act of the Convention, a member of the Com- mittee's foreign staff, and was supported on it by "such con- tributions for this work as individuals were making to it" through the custody and disbursement of the Committee's Gen- eral Secretary. Accordingly, after the adjournment of the Convention, in order to hasten the return of Swift, McBurney and I under- took and were able to secure promptly from several friends $33,000 still needed for the Tokyo building. The return of Swift was no longer delayed, and on the same day in October he and McConaughy left New York, the one going west on his way to Japan, and the other eastward toward India. In Madras, McConaughy met Wishard. It was the city from, which Dr. Chamberlain had sent the call for a Secretary, and after careful consultation it seemed best that the work should begin there. Plan and Policy of Work Defined Immediately after the adjournment of the Philadelphia Con- vention, a special sub-committee of the International Com- mittee met to define the foreign work policy, which "in its judgment" it was "proper" to adopt in accordance with the authorization of the Convention, and with Association princi- ples and precedents, especially as these vitally concerned the 376 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN relation of the Association to the churches, and their work on the foreign mission field. At the suggestion of McBumey it was agreed that no final action should be taken until a first draft of what was proposed had been sent to every member of the International Committee, with a request for his opinion, and for suggestion as to any modification that might seem to him to be desirable. As a result of this wide consultation, the Committee defined its policy to be "the establishment or planting on the foreign mis- sion field of a specific work for saving and developing young men to be carried on, upon the lines recognized as belonging to the Association work of this continent, including its strong deferential relation to the evangelical churches." The sending out of general missionaries to new fields was especially dis- claimed, and the workers sent out were to be known as Secre- taries of the International Committee. Special emphasis was placed upon taking every step in harmony with the representa- tives of the churches already on every field where there could be planted "native, self-sustaining Associations." To form these would be the objective of these Foreign Secretaries of the Committee. It was a wise and timely action, giving direction to the interest and enthusiasm on behalf of foreign mission endeavor which was being awakened among the Associations. In Kansas this enthusiasm was taking the form of an endeavor of a non- Association character. For some years the State Work had been growing in extent, under an exceptionally able State Secretary. In 1889 the employed staff of the Kansas Com- mittee was larger than that of any other state. It commanded the confidence of the Associations and their leaders through- out the state. But they were misled — so it was reported to the International Committee — into promoting what was known as "The Kansas Missionary Movement in the Soudan." It was a genuine missionary endeavor to preach the Gospel in dark- est Africa, but it was wholly independent of any connection with the evangelical church mission Boards and their work, and it was not directed to distinctive Association work for young men. The Kansas State Secretaries were understood to be actively connected with this movement, and were genuinely and deeply moved by the missionary motive. It was an under- THE OUTREACH TO OTHER LANDS 377 taking by them, most commendable in itself, but so inconsistent with the declarations and pledges of the Associations regard- ing their relation to the churches, that the International Com- mittee felt obliged to ask for a conference with the Kansas Committee on this subject. This request was granted, and the chairman, the treasurer, and Robert McBurney, Thomas Cochran, Charles K. Ober, and myself met the Committee at Topeka, September 17, 1890, and frankly pointed out to its members and Secretaries the departure they were making from what was fundamental in the relation of the Associations to the churches, and their workers on the foreign mission field. This attitude of the Committee, and the counsel suggested by it, led ultimately to the resignation of the State Secretary and the discontinuance of the relation of the Kansas Committee to this general and independent missionary movement. Under other oflBcial management, the former State Secretary and his friends and fellow-workers have carried on excellent aggressive and growing missionary work in Africa. Support and exten- sion of distinctive Association work on the foreign field steadily increased as authorized by the Kansas City Conven- tion of 1891 and its successors. Indeed no department of the Committee's work has been more strongly fostered by Interna- tional, State, and Provincial Committees and by the local Associations. It was at this period, in one of the State Conventions, in a section to which some influences from the Kansas movement had extended, that I was asked to deal with the subject : "The Influence and Relationships of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation." No critical reference was made to any existing un- desirable tendencies, but the burden of the address was a con- structive setting forth of the distinctive purpose of the Asso- ciation and its relation to the churches and their agencies, with which, as the Association extended its work, it was being brought in touch. This address was printed in pamphlet form by the Committee and at the time had a wide circulation. Student Volunteer Conventions— Wishard, Mott, and Speer From his four years' missionary journey — 1888-1892 — ^Wish- ard returned with an interest and enthusiasm in the Student Work that was unabated. His inclination was to continue in 378 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN that work, but his obligation to the foreign work and his fel- low Secretaries on that field and to the increase of their num- ber, imperatively called him to concentration upon the foreign work, promoted by his own successful labor as a College Sec- retary and by his recent world journey and visitation. During his long absence the student secretaryship had been filled first, with fine discernment and ability, by Charles K Ober, but before Wishard's return Ober responded in 1890 to an urgent call for his work as a Field Secretary, and Mott succeeded him as College Secretary, joined a year later by Fletcher S. Brockman as an associate, especially for Student Work at the South. Mott was also strongly identified with Student Work as Chairman of the Student Volunteer Committee. In 1891 at Cleveland, Ohio, had been held the first Student Volunteer Con- vention. This remarkable meeting created a profound impres- sion, bringing together a larger body of undergraduate students than ever before had assembled for deliberative and protracted conference. The churches were represented by their foreign missionaries home on furlough and by members of their for- eign mission Boards. At the stirring and widely reported sessions of this convention, two young men, John E. Mott and Eobert E. Speer, were the prominent, outstanding personalities. During the years of Wishard's absence they had become, at Northfield, strong student leaders, but this meeting at Cleve- land brought them into wider prominence. Mott presided at every session, commanding attention and approval as a presid- ing oflflcer and a leader of rare ability and bright promise. Associated with him, as the leading platform speaker, was Robert E. Speer, already every summer a vital force and in- spiration at Northfield, known also throughout the student brotherhood as a visiting secretary of the Student Volunteer Movement and about to become in that year one of the Church's strongest promoters of its foreign missionary enterprise. The Committee's work and workers on the foreign field Wish- ard had been exploiting by visitation, and now these called for his undivided attention at the home base. During his absence the supporting and recruiting work had been cared for by him in correspondence and with the cooperation of the student staff and the General Secretary. There had been sent to the field an THE OUTREACH TO OTHER LANDS 379 associate for Swift in Japan in 1891, Eanford S. Miller, Jr., and the same year the first Secretary for South America, Myron A. Clark, now the senior Foreign Secretary of the Committee. Wishard entered promptly upon this congenial work. In Mott, as Student Secretary and Chairman of the Student Volunteer Movement, he found a sympathetic helper, and both were ac- tively identified with the second Volunteer Convention in 1894. It was held in Detroit, and was a larger and even more im- pressive meeting than its predecessor. Wishard, as Foreign Work Secretary of the Committee at the home oflQce until 1898, effectively followed up the work for which his protracted tour had opened the way. He developed a constituency of supporters, and added to the four Secretaries already on the field, eight more who were located — J. Campbell White in India (1893), D. Willard Lyon in China (1895), George Sherwood Eddy in India (1897), Louis Hieb in Ceylon (1896), Galen M. Fisher in Japan, Eobert E. Galley, Eobert E. Lewis, and Fletcher S. Brockman in China (1898). During his absence until 1892, the administration of the Foreign Work Department from the home ofilce was a tax iipon the college force and myself, but on his return he was in charge until 1895, when he again went to Europe and Africa on Associa- tion errands, and was away for more than a year. Mott was away at the same time (1895-97) on his first re- markable world tour. At the origin of the Student Work and its outgrowths — the Student Volunteer Movement and the For- eign Work Department of the Committee — I was brought into an intimate relation as the senior advisory and supervisory Secretary of all who had to do with these most interesting de- velopments of the International Work. Each phase in turn won the most ardent sympathy and the strongest cooperation I could give, both personally and oflacially. To share the en- thusiasms and labors of my younger associates was a happiness I will not attempt to describe. The World's Student Christian Federation Journeys of Mott and Wishard 1895-1897 At Vadstena Castle in Sweden in August, 1895, the World's Student Christian Federation was formed by representatives 380 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN of the Student Movements of the United States and Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Scandinavian countries, and the so-called Mission Lands. Of the two representatives from the United States and Canada, Mott was chosen General Secretary and Wishard Treasurer, Karl Fries was elected Chairman and J. R. Williamson, M.D., of England, Correspond- ing Secretary. Of these officers Mott and Fries still continue after the lapse of over twenty years in the positions to which they were then elected. The students at Vadstena represented four Student Movements in the countries from which they came and a fifth, "The Student Christian Movement in Mission Lands," was composed of Student Associations in non-Christian countries and was represented by Wishard in his relation to them as the Foreign Work Secretary of the International Committee. Wishard's visit to South Africa (1896) resulted in adding a sixth Student Movement to the five which at its organization at Vadstena constituted the Federation. In October, 1896, after a year's absence, Wishard returned to resume for another year his work as Foreign Work Secre- tary at the home base. Then for a year (1897-98) on leave of absence, he conducted a strong forward movement as agent of the Presbyterian Foreign Mission Board. At the close of this useful service he withdrew from the staff of the Committee, to accept a forward movement agency in connection with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. He had been for twenty-one years a strong leading Secretary on the Committee's staff, for eleven years its Student Secretary, and for the last ten years its Foreign Work Secretary. In accepting his resignation the Committee expressed ap- preciation of the fine pioneer quality of the service he had rendered to Student Work at home and to its extension into both the Christian and non-Christian world. A chief result had been that more students had .volunteered for the foreign field than the churches could send out. Now he had resigned in order to help the churches make favorable reply to the stu- dents who were saying, "We will go to the foreign field if you will send us." Of his departure the Committee in its minutes said : "It seems to us a graduation and promotion into leader- ship of a movement which grows out of the remarkable work he has accomplished among students in this and in other lands," THE OUTREACH TO OTHER LANDS 381 Mott's tour of twenty months (1896-97) had added to the Federation four more Student Movements — from India and Ceylon, Australasia, China, and Japan — making a total of ten afflliated in the student brotherhood. On reaching San Fran- cisco, his serious problem was : How to adjust the obligations of his new office to those of the positions he had been holding before this journey. In crossing the continent he stopped at Chicago to call on Mrs. Cyrus H. McCormick, Senior, who had been among the most generous friends in providing for the expense of his tour. With deep interest she had read his let- ters to herself and other friends, admirably reporting the work accomplished during his protracted absence. Though in feeble health at the time and confined to her room, she insisted on seeing him, and asked what his program was now to be. When he confessed to not being able as yet to make a definite reply, she showed discerning and generous ap- preciation of the situation, and with the sympathy of her sons and family she assumed for herself and them such a contribu- tion as covered his entire salary and expenses and made financially practicable such a distribution of his time among his oflScial obligations as was rendered necessary by them. In this way provision was made for his continuance in the four oflSces he held, each of them having vital and supporting relation to the others. In all of them he was serving student organizations, so vitally related to the extension of the King- dom of Christ throughout the non-Christian world as to en- able him consistently and satisfactorily to fulfil in them the pledge of life-long work which as an undergraduate Student Volunteer he had made at Mt. Hermon in 1886. In the conduct of the Federation he was for years without such salaried Secretaries as were his helpers in the leadership of our Student Department and of the Volunteer Movement, but in the conduct of these two he now (1897) had eight such secretarial associates, and the number was steadily increasing. It was his remarkable ability to select and use this increasing number of qualified helpers, salaried and unsalaried, that made possible the steady increase in the number of offices he excel- lently administered. On the departure of Wishard, Mott soon began to take on such responsibility in regard to both Student and Foreign 382 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Work as to relieve me more than any other member of the staff had ever done. Though not in name and title, he was in reality replying favorably to a substantial part of the proposi- tion concerning the General Secretaryship which I had made to him before he set out on his first world journey. Ten Years Membership in the Federation Committee According to the Federation rules, its Committee was com- posed of two members from each of the ten National and In- ternational Movements which in 1897 constituted the Federa- tion. Its first meeting, after the one in Vadstena where it was organized, was held on our continent at Williamstown, Massa- chusetts, during the week following the Northfield Conference of that year. Wishard's necessary withdrawal from student work to promote a forward movement of the Presbyterian For- eign Mission Board occasioned a request to me to take his place and join Mott as the second of the two members on the Federation Committee who represented the Student Movement of the United States and Canada. The members of the Com- mittee who came from Europe, Asia, and Australasia to attend the meeting, were our guests at the Northfield Conference of that year, and there became acquainted with the spirit and method of our Student Work. There also they met not only 500 students from 136 North American colleges and universi- ties, but students representing twenty-four other countries. In the absence of the Chairman, Karl Fries of Sweden, the vice-Chairman, Dr. K. Ibuka of Japan, presided. Every one of the ten Movements was represented by one or more of its representatives on the Committee. The rules were reviewed and carefully revised. At each subsequent biennial session some further improvements were made at the suggestion of the Committee on Eules of which I was appointed chairman. The delegates from other continents had been carefully study- ing the North American Student Movement. Its close relation to the Young Men's Christian Association, and to the North- field Conference, and the character of its leadership challenged their attention. The relation of this Student Work to the Student Volunteer Movement, and of both to church and other Christian work in the non-Christian world was carefully con- sidered. Also the story was told of how the whole Student THE OUTREACH TO OTHER LANDS 383 Movement in North America could be traced to the "Haystack Prayer Meeting" of 1806 and the band of undergraduate col- lege students to whom was due the beginning of foreign mis- sion work by the churches of North America. The most impressive session was held when these delegates from around the world gathered about the monument erected on the spot where the Haystack Meeting had taken place. In 1806, when those five students sought the shelter of the haystack to escape the fury of a thunderstorm and continued in prayer that the Gospel might be carried to the heathen, they confronted their task with the motto or slogan : "We can do it if we will." These seven words are engraved on the monument. Among our small group of students, some came from the lands unevangelized at the time of the Haystack Meeting. Now all joined hands around the monument, and after uniting in prayer each in his own language repeated the words "We can do it if we will," and each in turn realized that the same task was being faced by his own Movement that the students of a hundred years ago had confronted. They prayed for the same inspiration, confidence, and fidelity which had stimulated their predecessors. In one of the sessions the vital question was asked of those representing each movement — as it was asked subsequently in every meeting of the Federation Committee — "What can the Federation do for your movement during the coming two years?" A recess was taken, in order that each might con- sider the question from its own point of view. When we re- assembled there was a request which was first on the list of every movement : a petition for a visit from the General Secre- tary ! In each case it was demonstrated to the satisfaction of the one making the request that its call was the most urgent of all. At every succeeding biennial meeting during my ten years of membership, this request maintained its preeminence. In every instance also the conclusion was reached that the General Secretary was in such relation to his other work, and to all the movements, that he and his fellow officers must take into consideration each and all requests and, enlightened by prayer, respond according to their best judgment. Another interesting and significant feature of this and every subsequent meeting was the unanimous vote by which 384 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN every action was taken. The achievement of this unanimity at the close of every deliberation undoubtedly prolonged the discussions, but was of inestimable value. In the protracted process of attaining unanimity each movement felt it had taken a part, either by advocacy or concession, in an assent that was intelligent and decided. Harmonious cooperation by all was thus secured. It became an ambition of the Federation Com- mittee to maintain this record and practice. It was, in fact, of vital importance. As an international inter-denominational organization, unity was indispensable to successful achieve- ment. It is an emphasis placed by Our Lord in His prayer for His disciples upon the words : "That they all may be one." Unity was estimated at the supreme value with which He seemed to regard it when He repeated His prayer for it. For ten years I continued to enjoy the great privilege of membership in this Federation Committee, and was present at every one of its biennial meetings during that period: at Eisenach, Germany, in 1898; Versailles, 1900; Soro, Denmark, 1902; Zeist, Holland, in 1905, and Tokyo, Japan, in 1907. To the ten Student Movements there were added in this period one from Holland and Switzerland and a cooperating com- mittee for work among women students with a secretary. Miss Ruth Rouse, for work among these students.^ At the beginning of the Federation, value was attached to my service as a senior member who for twenty years had been an ofllcer of another allied organization, the Committee of our World's Conference. To promote the intimate fellowship of these two ecumenical organizations seemed to me of first importance, and I was rejoiced when Federation General Sec- retary Mott became influential in the councils of the World's Conference, and eventually was elected to its Committee. But the continuance of my own connection with the Federation Committee was necessarily limited. Its membership was wisely and strictly limited to two from each movement, and it was especially important that from North America no more than two — including Secretary Mott — should come. From the beginning it was understood between us that as soon as prac- ticable in the development of the work a junior associate, more wholly occupied with the Student Work than I, should » p. 353. THE OUTREACH TO OTHER LANDS 385 be secured in my place. To continue as many as ten years was a great privilege, for I was less conscious of any service I could render than of the benefit and help received by me through this connection with the Federation, its fellowship, administration, and General Secretary. Steadily the Federation made progress in extent and efil- ciency. During his. journeys on all the continents and in his correspondence, the General Secretary showed rare ability to serve not only the Federation but equally his associates in the Student and Foreign Work of our Committee and in the Student Volunteer Movement. Unity and cooperation per- meated the whole varied student work to which he was ofiBcially and in a masterly way related. Of the twenty members con- stituting the Committee at its meeting in 1897, only three were still members when I resigned ten years afterward — ^Dr. Fries the Chairman, Dr. Mott the General Secretary, and Pastor K. Martin Eckhoff of Norway, who has recently passed on to his reward. An Interesting Comparison As a world-wide development of Student Work, this organi- zation was intensely interesting to me in both the resemblance and the contrast it presented to the World's Conference of 'our Associations and its World's Committee. The Conference was the older and I had been intimately connected with it since 1872. An increasingly close relation between the two seemed to me a desirable goal for each to seek. Both are world federa- tions of the youth of many countries, with their strongest group located in North America, and each receives from this strongest group guiding suggestion and initiative. Both are positively and aggressively Christian in their name, and are substantially agreed on the basis adopted by the older organi- zation at its first Conference in Paris in 1855, though the exact language of this basis is not used by the younger organization in defining its objective. There is a greater solidarity and efflciency in the younger Federation. It is composed of only one of the many classes of young men composing the older organization and its stu- dent members are so largely undergraduates as to be peren- nially youthful. They belong to a class— men and women of 386 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN education — ^preeminent in point of influence throughout both the Christian and non-Christian world. Also in the different countries and races they constitute a class, the members of which round the world probably resemble and sympathize with one another more closely and intelligently than do those of any other class. The forms and methods of work among students are also less varied and more simple than is the four-fold work of the Young Men's Christian Association. As compared with other Association work, the Student Work is more predominantly religious and spiritual. This makes possible in it a swifter progress toward genuine solidarity in world fellowship and organization. While the strongest group of both organiza- tions is in North America, the Student Federation has more effectively centered its world administration and secured its leaders within this strongest group. Therefore the resources of the North American Movement have been far more directly and responsibly helpful to the Federation Committee than they have been to the World's Conference and its Committee. The Association World Conference has not yet located any meetings of its Conference or of its Committee where its Asso- ciations are strongest in numbers and resources. When the Conference was formed in 1855, it was not brought together, as was the Federation, by a single strong agency which be- came at once and permanently a commanding and uniting executive. Such a course was impracticable because the dele- gates came from societies in different nations and composed of many different classes of young men, who had developed varying and apparently diverging types of work. For forty years before the Student Federation was formed, the World Conference met in different cities, all located in Europe, and it met for twenty-two years without an Executive Committee. When such a Committee was formed, it was deemed best to locate its working quorum and General Secre- tary, not in one of the larger countries of Europe where the stronger Associations with greater resources in men and money had been organized, but in a neutral environment unvexed by national rivalries and animosities. This was sought and found in Switzerland, at Geneva, where the Committee has con- tinued ever since its appointment in 1878. In its work of THE OUTKEACH TO OTHER LANDS 387 visitation it has been limited, chiefly to the continent of Europe, where all the meetings of both Conference and Committee con- tinue to be held. The result has been that it has not com- manded sufficient resources in men and money to accomplish a work of extension to other continents. Such a work of world-wide extension, however, the North American Associa- tions have had the resources to accomplish under the strong leadership of their Student Department. To its masterly leader also is due the existence and development of the Student Federation itself, and perhaps the strongest point of contrast is found in the fact that God has graciously given to the Student Federation from its beginning, within and beyond the limits of the Young Men's Christian Association, the life service and leadership of the ablest man in his own generation from among those who have devoted their lives to work in Christ's name among young men. Who can calculate the value of this commanding personal asset? In North America, where Student and Association Work are strongest, the Student Movement is an integral part of the Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Associations. This is true also in South America, Japan, China, India, and some other countries, where the work among students and other classes of young men has been established or modified by workers from North America. This existence, affiliation, and development of the Student Work within the Young Men's Christian Association has been entirely consistent with a separation of the members of this strong class — as also of other classes of .young men — ^to ac- complish among its own members a work which is possible only as they are separated to such work. A growing coopera- tive relation between the Student Federation and the World's Conference is proving practicable. In point of fact, during the decade under review the Federation General Secretary, Dr. Mott, became very active in his vital connection with the World's Conference. In the meeting of 1898 he succeeded McBumey as Chairman of the influential Delegates' Com- mittee, and was reelected to that committee at the three fol- lowing Conferences of 1902, 1905, and 1909. Also during this period he became one of the American members of the World's Committee, belonged to its Executive Committee, and was active 388 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN in its meetings and administration. No stronger link, personal and ofiScial, could bring together these two kindred world movements in the interests of unity and eflBciency in inter- national Christian work. A World Power When the world war broke out, August, 1914, practically all the young men of Europe became identified with the armies on both sides of the conflict. At once in camp and trenches, in hospitals and convalescent homes, and among prisoners, there was urgent call for such ministry of Association work and workers as had been initiated among soldiers in North America. As the preeminent leader in both Conference and Student Federation, Dr. Mott called to his help expert workers in both brotherhoods to answer the call of need from the millions of men under arms enlisted from among all classes. In this way the exigencies and emergencies of a war beyond precedent have welded together in this work in Christ's name young men of all classes under a world student leader. Be- fore a year of this union in war work had passed away, the time seemed ripe to both the International Committee and Dr. Mott, in the light of a variety of urgent considerations, for his acceptance of the long standing invitation extended to him to become General Secretary of the Committee, not only for the student and foreign fields but equally for the work at the home base of the North American Associations — a base created by the City Association movement. An American scholar and traveler wrote as follows in 1913 : "My trip around the world, including a tour of the Medi- terranean, and a journey over the Trans-Siberian Railway, brought six world powers very prominently into view — the British Empire, the Russian Empire, the Japanese Empire, the Chinese Republic, the American Republic, and the Young Men's Christian Association. Cooledge says a world power is one 'which is directly interested in all parts of the world and whose voice must be listened to everywhere.' When the range and quality of influence are considered, there is no exaggera- tion in saying, 'These are six of the greatest world powers and the greatest of these is the Young Men's Christian Association.' The British realm is great, but the Christian Association reaches a wider area ; the American voice is fine and progres- THE OUTREACH TO OTHER LANDS 389' sive, but the Association voice is stronger for righteousness, and truer to the highest and best things. A world tour, with eyes and ears open to the interests and activities of the Asso- ciation, cannot fail to create in one the profoundest apprecia- tion of its worth." To these six powers Germany might be added as a seventh. These words were written and published before the outbreak in Europe of the great world war. The spread of the work of the Associations among the millions of young men under arms certainly adds emphasis to these words of appreciation from Professor Oscar E. Brown, of Vanderbilt University. The Young Men's Christian Association began in the city. The City Movement and its leaders created the Convention and its international agent of supervision and extension. As part of that extension the intercollegiate Student Movement was developed. The city organization still bulks largest in its membership, employed officers, working committees and property, and in the variety and dimensions of its work. But all this growth at home and abroad has been ministered to by the strong development of its North American Student Movement. The Young Men's Christian Association Movement, including the World's Student Federation, and the Foreign Department of the International Committee, with its 200 Sec- retaries strategically located in the non-Christian world, pos- sesses commanding features of solidarity throughout the world in the personnel of its leaders and in its appeal to the class in each country which is most influential. The best work, therefore, is being accomplished where the City Association Movement is vitally related to the Student and where in its turn the Student Department has freedom to develop that part of the leadership which it is fitted to provide for the whole brotherhood, composed of all classes of young men. CHAPTER XIX CONNECTION WITH KAILEOAD AND OTHER FORMS OF ASSOCIATION WORK The Railroad Work, Local and International With Railroad Association Work I became identified in 1872 at Cleveland, soon after its beginning in that city. Of the early cooperation in that city of President James H. Devereux and of Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr., as treasurer of the Harlem division of the New York Central, and also of the opening of an Association Reading Room in the Grand Central Station in 1875 an account has already been given. ^ Before the International Committee was able in 1877 to place an International Railroad Secretary in the field, Cornelius Vanderbilt had consented to be Chairman of the Committee of Management of the Railroad Branch in New York City — a position industriously filled by him until his death in 1900. During this period of over twenty years, as recording secre- tary of this committee, I kept in intimate touch with this eflQcient local Railroad Work as carried on and supported by both employers and employes. The exemplary character of the work was due to the careful and thorough supervision and generous support of the Chairman. During this entire period he attended every committee meeting and interested other oflBcials who cooperated with and succeeded him. The reports from month to month he vigilantly scrutinized, and he presided also at every anniversary meeting. At first he did not appreciate the need of a qualified local Secretary. But during the third year he asked for "the best man that could be found," and this capable man, in the person of Orlin R. Stockwell, undertook (May, 1878) a position which was of critical value and importance to the whole movement. As long as he lived, Stockwell was the leader among our Railroad Secretaries. Prom him in 1881 at London, the World's Conference heard its first report of Association work ' Pp. 112-15, 151-2. RAILROAD AND OTHER ASSOCIATION WORK 391 among railroad men. By his sudden death, two years after- ward, the Railroad Association Secretaries suffered one of the most serious losses they have ever sustained. As the chairman became satisfied of the excellence of the work, he was ready to join heartily with Morris K. Jesup, the member of the International Committee who from the beginning had taken a deep practical interest in promoting its extension beyond New York City. When an International Railroad Secretary was urgently called for, both these in- fluential friends cooperated in the Committee's endeavor (1877) even before Vanderbilt was willing to seek a local Railroad Secretary for the work at the Grand Central Station. In securing for the Committee the amount needed for this new Secretary, Edwin D. Ingersoll, Vanderbilt helped to secure equal help from his father, from President Thomas Scott, of the Pennsylvania, and John W. Garrett, of the Baltimore and Ohio systems. In securing this support from these railroad presidents it was the close and vigilant relation of Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr., to the work at the Grand Central, and else- where, that was the consideration that won their confidence. To him from the beginning Secretary Ingersoll reported on his return from each tour of supervision and extension. In 1879 Cornelius Vanderbilt became a member of the International Committee. During this early period another influential friend and counselor was William Thaw, organizer and Vice-President of the Pennsylvania lines west of Pittsburgh. He was willing to be quoted as believing it "a work wholly good both for the men and the roads they serve." He was among its most gen- erous supporters and in times of emergency never failed to give help where it was most needed. Since his death thirty years ago, members of his family have continued generous annual contributions to the Committee's treasury. The First Two Railroad Conferences, 1811 and .1879 The calling and guidance of the first two Railroad Confer- ences the Committee entrusted to its General Secretary. Various types of local work in many states were reported by the delegates of the first Conference at Cleveland (1877) and the second (1879) at Altoona. It was an experimental period, 392 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN and the most serious experiment was tried by the parent Association at Cleveland. In a conference with President Devereux at his request, I learned that the friends in Cleveland desired to make trial of an organization separated from the Association. For the Committee I assured him there was no disposition to impede such an experiment. In this initial period we were all seeking the method best adapted to pro- mote the interest of both employe and employer. The con- clusion finally reached by such an experiment would give ad- ditional guarantee of the correctness of our conclusion. The experiment had continued for about a year (1877-8) when President Devereux requested a second interview and reported to me that the friends in Cleveland had become satisfied of the wisdom of a return to their former connection with the Cleve- land Association. A similar conclusion was reached wherever the work was most eflScient and to the second Conference (1879), in response to a special request. Chairman Vanderbilt wrote : "While the Railroad Associations might survive a sepa- ration from the Young Men's Christian Association, yet I be- lieve such a step would be a great misfortune. It seems to me very fortunate that this Eailroad Movement is under the care and guidance of a national organization in fellowship with the best elements in the great communion of churches of all de- nominations. For years I have felt the deepest interest in the work and believe its value and importance can hardly be over- estimated, both to the men and to the companies in whose service they are employed." As I quote these words, they re- call vividly an opinion and estimate concerning the writer of them once given to me by his successor as head of the Inter- national Committee's Eailroad Department, Colonel John J. McCook, who said : "Cornelius Vanderbilt's strongest claim to be remembered and honored as a railroad capitalist and presi- dent will be, I believe, the giving of his influence and service to the development of this Eailroad Association work." First Thirteen Years of Supervision, 1877-1889 At Altoona in 1879, decided progress was reported and six- teen local Eailroad Secretaries were then on the roll. Secre- tary Edwin D. IngersoU continued his arduous work until in 1887 the condition of his health compelled him to resign. His RAILROAD AND OTHER ASSOCIATION WORK 393 successor, Henry F. Williams, was joined for a time by Cecil L. Gates, until the close of 1889. At the end of these thirteen years of supervision there were in 1890 nearly 100 Secretaries and assistants employed by 82 Railroad Associations or branches and the current expenses amounted to a little over 1120,000. This growth had been accomplished during a period marked by varied experiments, at many points, and by a solid permanent development of several local organizations. Most prominent among these were the two established on the New York Central in New York City, and the Pennsylvania system in Philadelphia. In 1887, after eleven years of careful supervision, Cornelius Vanderbilt, who had become President of the New York Central System, was so satisfied as to the permanently useful charac- ter of the work, that he planned and erected for it in the railroad yards near the Grand Central Station, at a cost of $180,000, a completely equipped Association building for the use of the employes. Though generously planned, it was in a few years (1894) so overcrowded, that to accommodate the enlarging work, it was nearly doubled in size by the donor. Parallel with this experience in New York was the growth of the Pennsylvania Railroad Branch in Philadelphia. At this headquarters of the system President George B. Roberts and other officials cooperated in the erection of a building in 1894, the size of which was speedily doubled, because of the ap- preciation of the good work accomplished by a capable manage- ment and secretarial force. Efficiency and achievement at iso- lated local centers during this initial period was what gave the real promise of permanent usefulness to Association Rail- road Work. Local efficiency wherever attained pointed clearly to the need of a wider success, which could be obtained only by estab- lishing the work at all desirable points along the line of each railroad system. During 1890-91 the two International Rail- road Secretaries had secured opportunity to establish a line of fifteen connecting Railroad Associations on the Union Pacific road. A sudden change in the management of that system prevented completion of the experiment. A more suc- cessful attempt, however, was soon to be made elsewhere. In this early period, what was being accomplished among 394 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN railroad men suggested similar Christian welfare work for men of other industrial classes, notably miners and lumber- men, a forecast of the Industrial Department.^ The Era of Expansion, 1890-1916 By reason of the good work of his predecessors Secretary Clarence J. Hicks came to the leadership of the Eailroad Work at a time of opportunity for unexampled progress, and he proved fully equal to improving this opportunity. The estab- lishment of the work at the divisional points of an entire sys- tem he began and successfully achieved on the Chesapeake and Ohio, with the cordial support of President M. E. Ingalls and his successor. President George W. Stevens. In the be- ginning of his service in this department he had part time help of a fellow Secretary, but at. the end of his twenty-one years of leadership he had a staff of nine International Sec- retaries — all of his own careful selection — two of whom, John F. Moore and Fred B. Shipp, proved equal to succeeding him — one as head of the KaUroad Work, and the other virtually as Associate General Secretary of the Committee.^ During this period the number of local Eailroad Secretaries increased from 113 to 518, the budget of annual expenses of all the Eailroad branches and Associations from |136,000 to over |1, 000,000 at 230 railroad terminal and divisional points. Of this annual expenditure at the beginning, the railroad management had supplied 60 per cent and the employes 40 per cent, but in 1912 this proportion had been reversed, the employes giving 60 per cent and the employers 40 per cent. One interesting outgrowth of the system plan, fully de- veloped under Secretary Moore, is seen in the New York Central Federation, composed of more than forty Eailroad Associations or branches upon that system, and located in eight different states and provinces. Another outstanding recent event was a Continental Mem- bership Campaign, carefully planned and led by Secretary Moore and his associates, in which the Eailroad Associations by a united effort in ten days of November, 1916, enrolled 38,550 new members, thus increasing their total membership to 123,- »P. 396. •Pp. 498, 506, 513. RAILROAD AND OTHER ASSOCIATION WORK 395 000. It was only in the twenty-ninth year (1900) of this move- ment that our continental railroad brotherhood was able to enrol a total of 38,000 members. Secretary Moore, by a tour in the Far East, has prepared the way for the extension of the Association Railroad Work and methods to the government railways of Japan and China. A good beginning of this extension has already been accom- plished. The Industrial Department Beginnings in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania Early in the development of Railroad Association Work some of the workers were impressed with the suggestion it con- tained of similar work among the men of other industrial classes. For eight years (1879-188(5) the Railroad Branch Sec- retary in Toronto was George E. Burford, who had been a miner and a blacksmith. At his forge and in the light of it he had studied Hebrew and Greek, that he might read and study his Bible in the original languages. As an eflScient leader in Railroad Work he appreciated how such a work and organization might be equally serviceable to miners. At this period the Associations of Wisconsin rejoiced in their first State Secretary, William E. Lewis, of whom it was justly said : "His name is a synonym among Association men throughout the continent for strength, clearness of judgment, and power with God and men." Burford and his qualification for work among miners were called to the attention of Lewis. This resulted in Burford's withdrawing in 1886 from railroad serv- ice and undertaking Association work among the iron miners of the Gogebic range, where he served zealously and effectively until his sudden death in 1887. Of him Lewis testifies: "In the past ten years he has done more work for the Master than most men do in twice that time." He was succeeded by another successful worker, John L. Graham. In Wisconsin, also under Lewis, as early as 1882 Association work among the forty thousand lumbermen then in that state was carried on for five years by lumbermen's Secretary Knud- son, who secured as an assistant Secretary Leimkueller. In this work in the forests a tent was used by the Secretaries. In 1886 the cost of this work was $1,609, and in 1890 it was 396 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN enlarged. "Twenty men could be employed if only the money needed could be secured." In 1891 it was pronounced by the International Committee's corresponding member for Wiscon- sin "work in an unequalled home missionary field, prospering under three Secretaries." These Secretaries were on the staff of the State Committee. But the work does not seem to have been permanently estab- lished — as was the Railroad Work — at local centers with local Secretaries and adequate equipment. Edwin D. IngersoU, First International Railroad Secretary, reports in 1887: "There has been forced upon my mind the practicability of a work for and by miners of coal, iron, copper, silver, and gold. A Railway Secretary of eight years' successful experi- ence who was once a miner (G. E. Burford) is now on the Wisconsin Committee's stafif in charge of work for miners." At this time in a conversation with a leading official of the Pennsylvania system IngersoU was asked: "Why isn't the Young Men's Christian Association doing something for the coal miners in Pennsylvania? There are many thousands (400,000) of them and they need help as much as railroad men." This question in 1887 led IngersoU to a conference with Pennsylvania State Secretary Taggart. It was agreed to begin at once at Pittston, a large mining community in the anthracite belt. For ten years (1887-1897) Secretary Thomas Thorburn, serving first at Pittston, then on the state force and later at Sharpsburg, cooperated with associates on the state staff in a work among anthracite coal miners of that region. From the beginning the coal companies contributed support. In the following decade (1897-1907) the work was extended into sur- rounding counties with Thorburn as County Secretary, until in 1907 with a staff of six Secretaries, 2,000 members had been enlisted in 22 communities and a similar work was started by the State Committee in the bituminous coal belt of Western Pennsylvania. The International Industrial Department Besides these extensions of Association work among lumber- men and miners in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, similar at- tempts among these and other industrial classes were prob- RAILROAD AND OTHER ASSOCIATION WORK 397 ably undertaken before 1903. But in that year an industrial department of the Internationa] Committee was urgently called for, and Charles C. Michener, who since 1895 had been on the student and then on the field stafE of the Committee, accepted appointment as the first Secretary of this new de- partment. For several years under his leadership the field was studied and some opportunities of extension improved. Marcellus Hartley Dodge, the chairman of the industrial sub-committee, became deeply interested in greatly enlarging this Industrial Work, and in 1906, when Michener resigned to enter another important field of Christian effort, Mr. Dodge sought a successor with unusual solicitude. It was not diflfl- cult to name to him the Railroad Secretary on whom all of us who were taken into counsel agreed as the man preeminently fit for the position — Charles E. Towson, then Secretary of the Eailroad Branch of the Philadelphia Association. But it was because Mr. Dodge came into full sympathy with Secretary Towson's wider vision of the field and the opportunity it pre- sented that the Committee's call to him was accepted and Asso- ciation work among the industrial classes received a leadership and extension which was realized as of first importance within the membership and activity of the city Associations. In this city field are to be found the great majority of industrial workers and the strongest group of local Associations. Soon the industrial membership of these city Associations was doubled. Under Towson's initiative also, special attention was directed by a special Secretary, Dr. Peter Eoberts, to work on behalf of non-English-speaking immigrants, beginning at the ports of embarkation and following them in transit from the port of arrival to their destination where the local Association can minister to them. This involved the service of special Secretaries at European and North American ports of depart- ure and arrival. In crossing the Atlantic in 1910 and 1911 one of my errands was to cooperate with one of our Industrial Department Secretaries, John Sumner, in his care for the emigrant at the European ports of departure. Among undergraduate students in scientific and engineer- ing schools are to be found the future engineers under whose direction these immigrants are to be placed. Beginning at 398 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Yale, undergraduate students in engineering were enlisted in forms of service among industrial workers within their reach, and industrial service by students was soon developed in some fifty colleges. Following the precedent and methods of the Railroad De- partment, employers and employes have been united in suc- cessful Association work among coal and metal miners, in mill villages, quarries, lumber camps, and saw mill towns. At these industrial centers already (1917) over a hundred Associations are maintained by joint support of employers and employes. There is promise of an indefinitely wide extension of this work, limited only by the supply of laymen and Secre- taries of strong Christian spirit and leadership. Among the most promising fields where good progress is being made are cotton mill centers and villages. The Association and the Clubhouse The extension of the Railroad Work and of the Industrial Department, which is an outgrowth of it, has been steady and aggressive. During all the five decades of this growth a ques- tion has been raised among both employers and employes re- garding the comparative merits of the Association building and the clubhouse. The influence and work each represents have been strongly contrasted. Both aim to furnish the ein- ploye with a place of resort during his leisure time, which shall serve as a substitute for demoralizing resorts. The clubhouse is wholly provided by the employer and furnished to the men for their use and accommodation. It has no connection or affiliation with any agency or brotherhood outside the rail- road or industry. The Association building, while it may be provided by the employer, accommodates an organization of the employes in which the employer cooperates and which is a part of the Association brotherhood. In the words of Cornelius Vanderbilt : "It seems very fortunate that this Rail- road Movement is under the care and guidance of a national organization in fellowship with the best elements in the great communion of churches of all denominations." The moral and religious character of the Association is pro- nounced. The work is under the strong leadership of a class of Christian workers — Railroad and Industrial Secretaries — RAILROAD AND OTHER ASSOCIATION WORK 399 who make its activities their life work. As a group of Chris- tian fellow-workers these Secretaries have grown from a few in 1872 to over five hundred. There has been a growth in the qualifications of the men as well as in their number. These workers have been encouraged and their work has been fostered on the one hand by the Association brotherhood and its agen- cies of promotion and on the other hand by a growing group of leading men in railroad management, beginning with James H. Devereux, Cornelius Vanderbilt, William Thaw, Thomas Scott, George B. Eoberts, A. J. Cassatt, M. E. Ingalls, George Stevens, Samuel Eea, and E. P. Eipley. Among the industrial leaders who have promoted this branch of Association work are Governor Procter of Vermont, Thomas P. and Lewis Parker of the Cotton Industry ; R. A. Long, the Weyerhaussers, George S. Gardner of the lumber industry, and others among the metal, coal, and other mining industries. In the fifth decade (1917) of its steady growth, the work has wider and stronger support from railroad and industrial men and management than at any previous time. The clubhouse and other more secular or less religious agencies continue to enlist advocates and promoters. But while the Association work often succeeds the clubhouse and its allies and takes their place acceptably, the reverse of this almost never occurs in the experience of the Associa- tion Railroad and Industrial Departments. Whenever genuine cooperation between the railroad or industrial men and the management has been secured with a competent Secretary to command and develop this cooperation, success has followed. But not yet have enough qualified men given their lives to this important work or received training for it. The enlistment of management and men, therefore, on different railroad and industrial systems has been very unequal. At divisional terminals on the same railroad system, unequal support as yet has been secured from both men and management. But the steady increase in the number of qualified Christian workers giving their lives to the work promises a steady growth of cooperation by management and men in promoting the wel- fare of all employes of lower and higher rank in the realm of the railroad and other industries. The Association's pri- mary aim to develop Christian character is its strongest claim to consideration and preference by employer and employe. In 400 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN many instances men in the management and among the em- ployes who have become our strongest friends, felt in the begin- ning that the Association emphasis on religious and moral character was an impediment to success. Experiment and experience led them to find in this feature the secret of what- ever success has been achieved. In 1916, Railroad and Industrial Associations were occupy- ing ill their work over three hundred buildings valued at over eight million dollars. Their current expense budget aggregated nearly three million dollars. Of this current expense more than half was given by the employes in this joint undertaking by them and their employers. WoEK Among Colored Young Men Beginnings of this Work Before the Civil War and the emancipation of the negro, as early as 1853 there is record of an Association of colored young men in Washington, D. C. During its life Secretary Anthony Bowen was a fellow employe of Secretary Wm. Chauncy Langdon in the government ofSces in Washington. Soon after the war, during the reconstruction period, 1865-76, a short-lived colored Association was formed in New York City. It was independent of the New York City Association, but was fostered and promoted for several years (1866-71) by a committee of that Association. It was represented by its President E. V. C. Eato, at the International Convention of 1867, and at more than one of the New York State Conventions. The cause of its dissolution was a lack of interdenominational tolerance and comity among the colored churches of the period. So many of these early Associations had been formed in South Carolina before 1873 that a State Convention met com- posed of delegates from their members. At its third annual meeting in 1872, ten Associations were represented by twenty- one delegates. The survivor among these Associations was the one at Charleston, formed in 1866. With its Secretary, Henry W. Thomas, as early as 1870 I began correspondence as editor of the Association Monthly, and received copies of the pam- phlet reports of a South Carolina Convention of Negro Asso- ciations. RAILROAD AND OTHER ASSOCIATION WORK 401 A few years later, during my first tour in the South, I stopped at Columbia, S. C, to call upon a college classmate, Daniel Henry Chamberlain. During the Civil War he had served as an officer in a negro regiment, and after graduating at the Harvard Law School had begun the practice of his pro- fession in Charleston, S. C, and became a leader in the recon- struction movement in that state. He was now (1874) At- torney General and soon to be elected Governor. No white As- sociation had been formed in Columbia, and my only errand was one of personal friendship. As I was passing in my friend's company through one of the public buildings, I noticed a large glass door, on which were painted the words "Colored Young Men's Christian Association." I paused to enter, but was as- sured that some time ago the organization had ceased to exist. As elsewhere mentioned, another incident of this tour was a visit to Richmond, which led to the calling to that city dur- ing the following year (1875) of the first International Con- vention held at the South after the Civil War. To this Con- vention there came from the Howard University Association the first negro student delegate to attend an International Convention, Robert T. Wheeler. The Chairman of the Cre- dential Committee had been a major in the Union Army, and from him and his associate, an ex-Confederate army officer and now a citizen of Richmond, the colored student received his credential ticket as a delegate. The Association at Howard University had been formed in 1869, and like the younger City Association formed at Charleston in 1866, it has continued the work without break from the date of its early origin. A gradu- ate of this university, James E. Moorland, became in 1896 the second Colored Secretary of the International Committee. At this Richmond Convention, the President, Major Joseph Hardie of Selma, with much feeling announced a message from the negro pastors of the city asking prayer on behalf of negro young men and Association work among them. This was devoutly responded to. An International Secretary for Work among Colored Young Men Major Hardie continued deeply interested in Association work on behalf of these young men at the South. The follow- 402 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN ing year, as a delegate to the Convention at Toronto, he made a plea for a fund to sustain an International Secretary for work among colored young men. Dr. Stuart Robinson of Louisville strongly seconded this appeal, and offered to be the first sub- scriber to the fund for this purpose. Immediately upon this suggestion |700 was offered on the floor of the Convention. George Williams, who had crossed the Atlantic to attend this meeting, subscribed $100 to the fund and it was completed after the Convention. From the beginning the Committee sought and were guided in this work by Major Hardie, Captain Lovelace of Marion, Ala., and other friends in the South, with whom the work had originated. For the first year General George D. Johnston, a Confederate veteran, as the Committee's Secretary, explored and reported upon this field. After an interval of careful con- sideration by Major Hardie and his associates, Henry E. Brown was chosen as a successor to Johnston. While a stu- dent at Oberlin University, Henry Brown had been deeply moved by the prayer of President Charles G. Finney for the colored people, offered at a solemn service held in Oberlin at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. This led him to devote himself to work on behalf of that race. At Talladega, Alabama, not far from the home of Hardie, he had founded and for six years conducted a school for colored youth, known as a college, and had become acquainted with the negro race, as students, servants, laborers, mechanics, teachers, preachers, and neighbors. In this work, in connec- tion with the American Missionary Association, he had won the confidence of the people of both races in that neighborhood, and on the basis of this confidence he was appointed the Com- mittee's Secretary. In patient study and effort he did a pioneer work among students in the negro schools and colleges, and in a few years he could report that in two-thirds of the forty colored schools Associations had been established. In 1888 he reported for the first time a city Association in operation with a negro Secretary, Wm. A. Hunton, located at Norfolk, Va. This able Secretary had been found by the International Eailroad Sec- retary, Edwin D. IngersoU, in Ottawa, Canada. He was hold- ing a good position in the government offices, highly esteemed RAILROAD AND OTHER ASSOCIATION WORK 403 as an active member of the Ottawa Association and also as a valued teacher of one of its Bible classes. An International Colored Secretary In 1890 Hunton succeeded Brown as International Secretary for the Colored Work of the Committee, and in 1897 he re- ported 19 city and 41 college Associations, with seven colored General Secretaries. The following year the Committee was able to give him a sorely needed assistant and associate in Dr. James E. Moorland, a graduate of Howard University. During these twenty-one years and many. that followed, the supervision and extension of Association work among colored men was wholly entrusted to the International Committee and its staff. In 1916 the Virginia State Committee was the first state organization to place on its staff a colored Secretary for work among the young men of his race. In no department, during this period, had the Committee been so greatly in need of an increase of its staff, and in none was I more disappointed with the result of efforts to secure this enlargement. But progress in the work, though slow, was steadily maintained from Convention to Convention. A Period of Enlargement The period of enlargement long and ardently hoped for in the last Century, was deferred until the second decade — (1910- 15) — of the present century. It then developed within our Student Movement at the South and within the City Associa- tion Movement at Chicago. The Senior Southern Student Sec- retary of the Committee, Dr. W. D. Weatherford, for many years had given occasional cooperation to his colored fellow Secretaries, Hunton and Moorland. In 1910 he wrote and published a book entitled "Negro Life in the South," chiefly designed for the use and study of undergraduate white stu- dents in that section. During the college year 1910-11 over four thousand students studied this book, and, as a result, unprecedented fellowship between the students of both races was realized. The following year a yet larger number engaged in the study. In further promotion of this movement, three members of the Committee, Cleveland H. Dodge, Norman W. Harris, and George W. Perkins, offered a large part of a "Race 404 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Eelationship Fund" of |10,000 to be given annually for five years 1910-15. This enabled the Committee, with other gifts, to secure for Dr. Weatherford helpers in the Student Work, and to increase the staff of the Colored Department from two to six Secretaries. Meanwhile, beginning in 1911, a strong reenforcement came within a City Association. Julius Eosenwald, a Hebrew citi- zen of Chicago, made the very generous offer — good for five years — of |25,000 to any and every city in the United States, in which was raised an additional sum of |75,000 toward the purchase of land and the erection and furnishing of a colored Association building, at a total cost of |100,000. Chicago was the first city to accept this offer by erecting a building at a cost of |200,000 of which Mr. Eosenwald and two other citizens of Chicago, Cyrus H. McCormick and Norman W. Harris, each gave $50,000. Twelve other cities accepted Mr. Eosenwald's offer of $25,000 and in 1916 buildings had been successfully erected in Washington, D. C, Chicago, Indianapolis, Dayton, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati. The most significant gathering or convention assembled during this five-year period of prog- ress, was the Negro Christian Student Convention at Atlanta, Ga., May, 1914, presided over by Dr. John E. Mott. In this meeting, to 661 delegates from 81 schools and colleges, includ- ing 24 college presidents, were vividly presented the claims of Christian service at home and abroad. In this growing work the Association is steadily increasing the dimensions and value of its contribution to the solution of the negro problem in Church and State. North American Indian Young Men Early in the year 1885 I was surprised to receive by mail a photograph of a group of Sioux Indian young men. It was enclosed in a communication addressed to me as "The Head of the Great Thing that Is" and came from one of a number of Koska Ohodahicye or Young Men's Christian Associations that had been formed in a few of the missionary churches on various Indian reservations. They owed their origin, some seven years before this, to an Indian pastor who had learned about our Associations while attending school at Beloit, Wis- > eonsin. RAILROAD AND OTHER ASSOCIATION WORK 405 This led me, on behalf of the Committee, to ask the State Secretary of Minnesota, Henry F. Williams, to attend in September, 1885, as our representative, the annual Indian Mis- sionary Conference or Convention held that year near the Sisseton Agency in Dakota. He reported to us the existence of eleven Associations on the various Dakota reservations. They had organized without waiting for a constitution, by adopting "the rules of Jesus," being guided chiefly by the first chapter of John, where they found that "one man who had the light went and found his brother who was in darkness." Secretary Williams also reported that the desire of the Indian young men for affiliation with the white Associations was shared by the veteran missionary, Reverend Alfred L. Riggs, and his associates. An immediate result of this effort was the welcoming of delegates from these Associations to the State Conventions of Minnesota and Dakota and the listing in our Year Book for 1886 of ten Indian Associations with 159 members. In 1894 the number had increased to twenty-five with 698 mem- bers and there was an urgent call for an International Indian Secretary. In response to this call Charles K. Ober, in co- operation with the Vice-President of our Committee, Thomas Cochran of St. Paul, succeeded in securing the support needed for this new work. The Indian Christian worker and citizen who seemed best qualified for this task was a member of the Sioux tribe, Charles A. Eastman, M.D., of St. Paul. The site of his great-grand- father's village is now part of the spacious park of Minneapolis. During his first fifteen years (1858-1873), as he himself tells us in the interesting story of his life,* he was "an absolute wild Indian, trained to be a warrior and a hunter, with a reverent sense of a pervading presence of the Spirit and Giver of Life, and a deep consciousness of the brotherhood of man." Very happily, in his first contact with the white man he "missed the demoralizing influences of life on the reservation, and was thrown with the best class of Christian white people," first at the Santee agency school under missionary Alfred L. Kiggs, who became "a second father" to him, and who discerned clearly the bright promise of this Indian pupil. At the pre- * "From the Deep Woods to CSvilization," pp. 1-13. 406 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN paratory departments of Beloit and Knox colleges he fitted for college and chose the medical profession as the path in which he could best devote his life to the welfare and elevation of his people. At Dartmouth, because "it was originally founded as a school for Indian youth," he studied and gradu- ated in the class of 1887. At the medical school of Boston University (1887-1890) he received his professional education. Then followed three years of faithful service of his people as government physician at the Pine Eidge Indian agency. During this perio(i he was happily married (June, 1891) to Miss Elaine Goodale, a devoted teacher and worker among the Indians, who had begun her career at Hampton Institute under General Armstrong and then was supervisor of Indian schools in Nebraska and the Dakotas. In this Pine Eidge agency for the first time Dr. Eastman came in touch not only with "reservation Indians" but with the relation of the government authorities to them and discovered the presence and influence of the corrupt politician. Indignant resistance on his part followed and led to his reluctant withdrawal in 1893 from the agency, "disillusioned and disgusted and realiz- ing the helplessness of the best equipped Indians to secure a fair deal for their people." He at once entered upon the independent practice of medi- cine in St. Paul, thus returning after thirty years of exile to the land of his nativity and the home of his ancestors. He adds, "I had been bitterly disappointed in the character of the United States Army and the honor of government officials. Still I had seen the better side of civilization and I determined that the good Christian men and women who had helped me should not be betrayed. The Christ ideal might be radical, even impractical, it still seemed to me logical and in line with most of my Indian training. My heart was still strong and I had the continual inspiration of a brave comrade at my side."^ "We were slowly gaining ground in St. Paul when one day (in 1893) a stranger called." The stranger was Charles K. Ober, who urged Dr. Eastman's acceptance of the Committee's call to extend the Association work among Indian young men. The Doctor adds:^ "We took the matter under consideration 6 "From the Deep Woods to Civilization," p. 138, «Ibid., p. liO. RAILROAD AND OTHER ASSOCIATION WORK 407 and with some reluctance I agreed to organize the field, if meantime they would educate a young Indian whom I would name to be my successor." This was agreed to. Arthur Tib- betts, a Sioux, was selected. After three years' study he was duly graduated at the Springfield Secretarial Training School and then Dr. Eastman resigned in his favor. In his report to the Committee Dr. Eastman says : "My work was mostly that of instructing, interesting, and explaining Association work and inducing every Association to take up regular Bible study. I gave special attention to training leaders, for while the Indian young men are anxious to take hold of the work, the great drawback is the lack of competent leaders; and the great need is of practical Bible study and men capable of intelligent Christian service. On the reservations the Associations can supplement what the Indian training schools at Carlisle and elsewhere accomplish by solv- ing the problem of 'the returned Indian student' and how he can make use on the reservation of what he has gained at the school." Toward the close of his term of service he reports: "Prom every point of view this department is performing a kind of Christian service that is thoroughly missionary and practical." The personal contribution Dr. Eastman brought as an Indian of conspicuous ability was invaluable. To the excellent work of these three years he makes the fol- lowing interesting allusion in the recently (1916) published story of his life : "I travelled over a large part of the western states and in Canada visiting Indians of all tribes . . . organizing some forty-three Associations studying Protestant missionary effort among Indians. I was constantly meeting with groups of young men of the Sioux, Cheyennes, Crees, Ojibways, and others in log cabins or little frame chapels and trying to set before them in simple language the life and character of the Man Jesus. I was cordially received and listened to with closest attention. From among them the Indian racial philosophy emerged from time to time. One of the older men had attentively fol- lowed our Bible study and attended every meeting for a whole week, when I called upon him for his views. After a long silence he said : 'I have come to the conclusion that this Jesus was an Indian. He was opposed to material acquirement and to great possessions. He was inclined to peace. He was as 408 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN unpractical as any Indian and set no price on his labor of love. These are not the principles upon which the white man has founded his civilization. It is strange that he could not rise to these simple principles commonly observed among our people.' The old man did not intend any sarcasm or unkind- ness, for after a minute he added that he was glad we had ac- cepted such an unusual character for our model. My two uncles were in the Custer fight (1876). I was happy to be sent to Canada in time to see the elder one alive. He had been a father to me up to the age of fifteen and I had not seen him for over twenty years. I found him a farmer living in a Christian community. All my old playmates were gathered there. My uncle was so happy that tears welled up in his eyes. 'The Great Spirit,' he said, 'has been kind to let me see my boy again before I died.' Afterward I visited the grave of my grandmother, whose devotion had meant so much to me as a motherless child. She was my first teacher — she taught me to pray. This was one of the great moments of my life. I met some able native preachers. I also visited for the first time the 'Five Civilized Tribes' of the Indian territory, now the State of Oklahoma. At Tahlequah, the Cherokee capital, the Senate took a recess in honor of their Sioux visitor and I ad- dressed students at Bacone College and at the Cherokee male and female seminaries. To arouse interest in the work I ad- dressed other audiences in Chicago, New York, Boston, and Lake Mohonk. My effort was to make the Indian feel that not Christianity but the lack of it is the cause of the white man's sins, and I freely admitted to them that this nation is not Christian, but declared that the Christians in it are trying to make it so. I found the facts and the logic of facts often hard to dispute, but was partly consoled by the wonderful opportunity given me to come into close contact with the racial mind and to refresh my understanding of the Indian philosophy in which I had been trained, but which had been overlaid and superseded by a college education. I do not know how much good I ac- complished, but I did my best. My work for the International Committee brought me into close association with some of the best products of American civilization. I have said some hard things about American Christianity, but in these I referred to the nation as a whole and to the majority of its people, not to individual Christians. Had I not known some such I long ago should have gone back to the woods." On the expiration of his term of three years Dr. Eastman was succeeded, according to the arrangement with him, by Arthur Tibbetts, the Sioux Indian of his choice, who mean- RAILROAD AND OTHER ASSOCIATION WORK 409 while had been a student at the Association Training School in Springfield. Dr. Eastman continued to devote himself to the service of his people. At their urgent request, as their strongest Chris- tian citizen of education, ability, and superior social standing, he spent six years at Washington, often appearing on their behalf before both House and Senate Committees. In a few cases he had personal relations with four Presidents of the United States. Under the auspices of the government he re- vised the Sioux allotment rolls, acquainting himself with the history of thirty thousand Sioux. "While fully appreciating the Indian's viewpoint," he "tried to convince him of the sincerity of his white friends and that conflicts between the two races have been due as much to mutual misunderstand- ings as to the selfish greed of the white man." Eight volumes upon the Indian Dr. Eastman has prepared and published, "always with the devoted cooperation of Mrs. Eastman, herself an author of distinction." "We have worked together," he says, "she in the little leisure remaining to the mother of six children and I in the inter- vals of lecturing and other employment. For the past twelve years (1904-1916) our home has been in a New England col- lege town and our greatest personal concern the upbringing and education of our children. ... I stand before my own people still as an advocate of civilization. ■ ■ ■ } realize the white man's religion is not responsible for his mistakes . . . God has given him all the light necessary to live in peace with his brother. I am an Indian ; and while I have learned much from civilization for which I am grateful, I have never lost my Indian sense of right and justice. I am for development and progress along social and spiritual lines rather than those of commerce, nationalism, or material efficiency. Nevertheless so long as I live I am an American." This is an interesting confession of faith and citizenship from the pioneer Indian Secretary of the International Com- mittee. „ „ •, .1. For eight years (1898-1906) Arthur Tibbetts followed up the work of Dr. Eastman and was succeeded by Stephen Jones, both Secretaries being upon the staflE of the Field Committee under Charles Ober. Siuce 1912 K. D. Hall of the student staff has worked 410 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN efficiently among the Indian schools and colleges. The Com- mittee's Report to the Convention of 1916 at Cleveland states that "The Associations among the Sioux Indians have not only assumed their own support but are providing the budget of a Foreign Secretary. Twelve carefully selected Indian young men are now training for the Association secretaryship." There is urgent call for competent Indian Secretaries on the staff of both the Oklahoma and Montana State Committees. BoTs' Work Henry Horace Wehster My first connection with Boys' Work was enjoyed in the friendship of one of the most lovable characters I ever met — Henry H. Webster — a graduate of Princeton in the class of 1876. He was for several years (1877-80) an indefatigable, in- valuable assistant of McBurney, winning the confidence of his associates, and as a personal worker influencing and blessing the lives of a multitude of both young men and boys. He ar- dently loved boys, and was loved by them. That was the day of the district messenger boy, before the telephone had arrived to do much of his work. Not one of these many boys, who daily came to Webster's desk, failed to receive a greeting that made him feel welcome. Associations in a number of the leading cities called Webster to be their General Secretary, but he pre- ferred to remain at his post in New York City. His years of remarkable, unselfish service as an employed officer led to his resignation because of overwork. No suc- cessor was allowed to overtax himself as Webster willingly and cheerfully had done. Soon after this he obtained a clerkship in a mercantile house in the city. His motive in the change had nothing to do with the making or accumulation of money, for he simply desired to earn enough for his own support as an unmarried man, and to devote every moment of leisure he could command to the work of the Association among young men and boys. Daily for an hour each morning, and for all the evening, he was at the Association building. The service he rendered in personal work was priceless. Promptly this office clerk was elected a Director of the New York Association, and the following year was chosen a member of the International Committee. Then nearly ten years — the remainder of his life RAILROAD AND OTHER ASSOCIATION WORK 411 —was ardently spent in cheerful, buoyant, whole-souled serv- ice to all whom the blessed touch of his interest and fellowship could influence. Very prominent among the beneficiaries of this life-giving ministry were boys of every class. He was the first leader of work among them in the New York City Association. In 1882 as a new Director he promptly became first Chairman of the first Boys' Work Committee. The first boys' prayer meet- ing was in his charge. On January 20th the little group met for the first time and was composed of "school boys and boys in oflBces." At the very beginning he clearly discerned the cardinal principle of effective Boys' Work, for in the first re- port he writes : "The members of the Committee have little to mention of their own activity, but much of the interest and cooperation of the members."'^ It is what the boys did for one another that receives first emphasis. In 1888, four branches of the New York Association had rooms set apart for boys. In 1889 good rooms on the fourth floor of the original 23rd Street Building were equipped for the use of the boys. In 1897, when the Association dedicated its second great building, under the guidance and supervision of McBurney, as chief architect, twenty per cent of the entire space was assigned to the Boys' Department. Henry Webster did not live to see this consummation. The pure flame of his loving, unselfish service was fed by an energy and activity, joyous and buoyant, but beyond the bodily strength with which he was endowed. Of such over-exertion he died in 1891, in the bloom of his manhood at the age of thirty-eight, when he was most faithful in serving and following the Saviour of men. It was a rare privilege to enjoy fellow- ship with Henry Webster, in the work of both the New York Association and the International Committee. Soon after his election by the Convention of 1883 he was chosen the first Chairman of the International Committee's Stu- dent Department. About this time Moody consented to spend a week-end in New Haven and to speak to the Yale students Sunday morning and evening. Webster was the companion I chose to go with me for such after-meeting personal work as might be called for, and when another week-end was to be ' Annual Report of New York CSty AsBociatiom, p. 71. 412 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN spent in quiet conference and discussion at Harvard about organizing a Student Association, there also his company and fellowship were sought and were equally welcome. For fifteen years we were workers together in near communion. I may have rendered him some cooperation, but the blessed service he faithfully lived into my life can never be recorded in words. It will be forever seeking and finding expression in other ways. Sumner F. Dudley While Webster was still with us another noble leader of work among boys appeared in the New York Association, Sumner F. Dudley. Equally with Henry Webster he was beloved among boys, and possessed rare qualification to lead in the work by and for them. We were fellow delegates attending the World's Conference that met at Berlin in the summer of 1884. In our intercourse he pled for the promotion of Associa- tion work among boys, and said : "We are specializing in work among students, railroad men, and other classes of young men. International Secretaries are devoting their lives to such work. Is it not equally important to specialize on work among boys?" "Yes," I replied, "but has not this work among these other classes been practicable because, in each case, a man was found — feeling as you do about Boys' Work — who was not only qualified to lead, but was willing to set himself apart to do it?" I felt sure I was speaking to a friend whom we would be glad to enlist as an International Secretary for this work, as Wishard and IngersoU had come on the staff in the Student and Eailroad Departments. At this time, however, specialization on various lines al- ready developed by the International Committee had raised the question whether further initiative in regard to other classes might not be undertaken by the State Committees, to the i-elief of the international and to the extension of state supervision. McBurney in his strong leadership of the New York State Work was of this opinion. My own conviction was that we promoted the best interest of the local organization — the sovereign unit, for the welfare of which both supervisory agencies existed — ^when both agencies were enlisted in the work. In the best development of most of the work, each agency should and could lend a hand. If the state agency RAILROAD AND OTHER ASSOCIATION WORK 413 took the initiative, eventually an inter-state cooperation would be called for. If, on the other hand, the initiative was by the international agency, it must be followed and forwarded by state supervision. In this instance I was heartily in favor of giving precedence to the state agency. Accordingly at the New York State Convention of that year (1884) Dudley led the interesting discussion on Boys' Work, and activity on this line was reported from seventeen Associa- tions in that state. In the three following conventions he presided at the Boys' Work session and gave generously of his time and energy as a volunteer to develop the work. Later for a part of his time he became a member of the state force, and continued in this office and work until his death in 1896. The name of Camp Dudley — a summer center for boys' fellow- ship, recreation, and work — keeps in memory one important part of the life work of this noble pioneer of the first rank. Edgar M. Robinson Four years after the death of Dudley, it became widely ap- parent that the Boys' Work had need, for its best development, of the interstate agency of supervision. The Employed Officers' Conference of 1899 not only unanimously solicited the Com- mittee to put in the field an International Secretary for this purpose, but pledged the salary needed for the first year. Edgar M. Robinson — State Boys' Secretary of Massachusetts — was chosen as the first Boys' Secretary on the International staff. It proved practicable to keep him in the field, though many of the contributions expired with the first year. Under his strong leadership the members of the Committee's staff for this department have steadily increased and the development of the Boys' Work has been greatly accelerated. In the Year Book of 1900 only twenty Boys' Secretaries were recorded. In that of 1913-14, over four hundred and fifty are named. In 1900 scarcely a dozen of the Boys' Departments numbered as many as two hundred boys, while in 1916 forty-seven Depart- ments had passed the five hundred mark. County and Rural Work Beginnings The Young Men's Christian Association was bom in the city, 414 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN and there it has developed its greatest strength and resources, as the trunk of the Association Movement throughout the world. For the first twenty-five years — 1851 to 1870 — the societies, in both city and country, were almost wholly composed of laymen volunteers. The employed ofScer as a source of strength and permanence was yet to arrive. Of the 659 Associations, "be- lieved to exist" in 1870, and of the 329 among these that "re- ported to the Committee" that year, the great majority were in small towns and country neighborhoods. During these years and the following decade there was great mortality among the Associations, in both city and country. This tend- ency was arrested in the city, when wise volunteer workers in their endeavor to develop the fourfold work began to secure the qualified employed officer, who in turn sought to develop and extend the work by an increasing number of both laymen and Secretaries. The work in small towns and country neighborhoods con- tinued, but without the secretarial anchorage secured in the cities. To the federation agencies — State and International — this rural situation presented from decade to decade one of their most difficult problems. The value of the work in rural communities was unquestioned. In every conference of Asso- ciation leaders this was demonstrated by the number present who owed the beginning of their Christian life and Association activity to these short-lived Associations in town and country. They lived and died and revived. In contemplation of their interrupted existence a veteran among the State Secretaries, I. E. Brown of Illinois, said at one of our conferences : "I have learned to look with resignation upon the death of these Asso- ciations. I know how many of us owe what is best in our lives to them. I believe in their coming to life again !" To the Senior International Secretary, Robert Weidensall — that preeminent pioneer among pioneers — is due the solution of the secretarial problem in rural communities. As early as 1873 an organization was effected by him in Dupage Township, Will County, 111. In 1875, in Mason County, Illinois, a county convention was held, and a county organization eflEected. Out of this experience Weidensall, in 1876, entered a plea for an employed County Secretary, but not until 1889 was such an ofQcer secured by him for Pawnee County, Nebraska. In 1891, RAILROAD AND OTHER ASSOCIATION WORK 415 John Lake became Secretaiy in Edgefield County, South Caro- lina, and after eight years of patient service, became the first Supervisory Secretary for County Work— called to that oflBce by the Kentucky State Committee. These steps of progress were all taken under Weidensall's leadership. As in the Boys' Work, so in that of the country neighborhood, the State organi- zation first secured a supervisory Secretary. The International County Secretaryship Four years later (1903) Weidensall urgently sought for an International Secretary for interstate supervision. In response to his urgent and insistent call upon them personally, his junior associates on the International force united in contributing a sum of money which made it financially practicable to add to their staff for this position, the man of Weidensall's choice — John R. Boardman. This Rural Department acquired the name of "County Work" because Weidensall and his associates discovered that the county furnished the smallest area in which, by a combination of its resources, a work for the young men in country neighborhoods could command the money needed to employ the indispensable executive ofBcer. This work is still in its infancy (1917) and only a beginning has been made by establishing an employed officer in some 81 of the 2,500 counties of the United States and Canada. Fifteen . State Committees employ each a State County Secretary. Under the strong leadership of the successor of Boardman, Albert E. Roberts, as chief Secretary, a county staff of nine International Secretaries is now efSciently promoting this work. One hundred and thirteen are giving their lives to the work as Secretaries under the guidance of a sub-committee, of which Dr. D. H. McAlpin is the active and vigilant chairman. Over a thousand members are enlisted upon these county com- mittees and within the counties work is carried on at over six hundred centers. It is difficult to exaggerate the promise of this Rural Department. Community Association Work During recent years in the County and Boys' Work and in some metropolitan cities. Association Secretaries have begun to plant, with little or no equipment. Community Young Men's 416 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Christian Associations. Some Metropolitan Secretaries are establishing, in districts of the city which are not being served through the fourfold Association work and its building, branch Associations on the community basis, making use of church and school and other agencies already at work for community welfare. In some instances a Boy's Secretary will begin here, as a branch, a work for boys on this community basis. In smaller cities there is a growing tendency to establish Com- munity Associations. These endeavors are challenging atten- tion and interest from leaders in all parts of the Association Movement. A new type of building known as a "Community Building" is owned by some Associations and operated for the benefit of the entire community. Boys and young men are enlisted in groups through churches, schools, factories, etc., and in some instances, unattached groups are formed under efficient leadership, and these use the building at stated times for definite activities. A fee is paid directly into the group treasury, and each group in turn pays for the use of the build- ing. Thus the Association building becomes a community center, under religious leadership. The watchwords of these Association workers are "The Social Principles of Jesus," "Christianizing Community Life." These words point out to leaders fundamental principles and their application. Inter- national County and Boys' Work Secretaries are strongly identified with this new departure and among them, F. H. T. Ritchie, from the Boys' Bureau, is now (1917) known as "Com- munity Secretary of the International Committee" and author of the text book "Community Work," embodying the results of nine years of strong patient leadership by him on this line of Association endeavor. International, State, metropolitan, and local Secretaries are working out the problems involved, seeking a unity of spirit and a combination of efllort which will bring to bear upon the solution of the many problems presented, the influence and weight of the entire Association movement. The Women's Auxiliary The Women's Auxiliary owes its origin to a suggestion at the dinner meeting in New York of November, 1896, at which was celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of the Committee's ap- pointment and work. Many of the veteran members were pres- RAILROAD AND OTHER ASSOCIATION WORK 417 ent and an impressive presentation of the whole work from its beginning was listened to. Among those who attended the meeting was a gentleman who had never before known of the work of the Committee. He suggested that such a presentation as he had listened to ought to be heard by Christian women, and this led the Committee, during the following year, to ap- point a committee of a few Christian women who were already friends of the work to constitute an auxiliary, the object of which should be to promote a knowledge of this work among women who would be led to take a practical interest in it. Among those who at the beginning joined the movement was Mrs. E. A. McAlpin, who became its first president. Mrs. Rus- sell Sage was first vice-president. Miss Helen Miller Gould — now Mrs. Pinley J. Shepard— second vice-president, and Miss Letitia G. O'Neil — ^now Mrs. Darlington — secretary and treas- urer. Parlor meetings were held, at which different phases of the work were presented to the members of the Auxiliary and other friends. When the Spanish War resulted in the creation of the Army and Navy Department, and Miss Gould began to take her generous interest in this work and also in that among railroad men, these departments appealed especially to the auxiliary. Meetings were held in other cities and in 1904 the membership had increased to over 450. The gifts of Miss Gould came to the Committee through the treasury of the Auxiliary. Some years later she erected the Naval Branch building near the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and Mrs. Sage generously doubled its capacity. As their interest increased, both Miss Gould and Mrs. Sage gave additional buildings for the army posts and the navy stations. In 1906 and 1907 Mrs. William E. Dodge and Mrs. Sage united in giving to the International Committee its present headquarters building. A fuller account of this generous gift is given in another chapter. Mrs. Sage also gave the employes of the Long Island Railroad at Long Island City a commodious Association building and Mrs. Butterfield, another member of the Auxili- ary, left her residuary estate to the Committee for its work in the Army and Navy. In these and other ways, through the agency of the Auxiliary, the number of friends actively in- terested in the work has been steadily increased. CHAPTER XX AN ERA OF REMARKABLE PROGRESS A Permanent Fund for the International Committee As early as 1886 the steady growth of the Committee's work and budget suggested to me the wisdom of securing a perma- nent fund, not as a substitute but as a promoter of annual con- tributions. The local Associations were securing permanent property — chiefly in the form of buildings — ^which in each in- stance promoted an increase of annual contributions to the local work. The size of the Committee's budget — then nearly $50,000 — seemed to call for such an effort. I submitted a care- ful memorandum on the subject to several members of the Com- mittee. Elbert B. Monroe and Cornelius Vanderbilt both ap- proved of such an undertaking and promised their help when an opportune time to begin the effort should be agreed upon. Cyrus H. McCormick compared such a provision to "a back- log" and the efficiency it gave to a fire. In 1892 the Massachusetts State Committee began an effort to secure a building in Boston which four years later they oc- cupied. During the Jubilee year (1894) of the parent Association in London the International Committee circulated an appeal to the Associations asking them to take up collections as the be- ginning of a permanent fund for its work, but less than $2,000 was received from this source, and I was confirmed in the con- viction that a beginning in substantial gifts must be attempted in order to reach the desired goal. To the International Con- vention of 1895 Professor J. M. Coulter, of Lake Forest Uni- versity, by special request presented an excellent plea for a permanent fund for the International Work, and the Conven- tions of 1895 and 1897 recommended securing such a fund. In the following year (1898) at the annual meeting of the Committee and its Secretaries, William E. Dodge listened to this plea for a fund, and afterward expressed to me the opinion that for .f 100,000 a suitable building could be secured and fitted AN ERA OF REMARKABLE PROGRESS 419 up for the Committee. He generously offered to give that amount if it should prove sufflcient for the purpose. This friendly sympathy gave me courage to persist in further eflfort. To the Convention of 1899, in connection with arrangements for the Jubilee Convention of 1901, the Committee recommended an eflfort to signalize the Jubilee year of the North American Associations by seeking to secure a million-dollar permanent fund for the growing work of the Committee. In response the following resolutions were adopted : "1. That it is of first importance that the fund shall be in- creased to such an amount that its income shall form a stable part of the large annual expenditure of the Committee, stimu- lating the increase of annual contributions, and 2. That a fund of a million dollars, as a wise partial endow- ment for the whole work, would be a fitting achievement for the brotherhood to accomplish during the Jubilee year of 1901." To many friends this had seemed a visionary undertaking, but now, in the action of the Convention, a definite amount was named, and a definite period in which to raise it. Mr. Dodge very generously consented to let his offer of a fund for a building form part of the larger project authorized by the Convention. I was fully persuaded after the experience of the past few years that the project would fail unless an oflfer of twenty-five per cent of the fund could be secured con- ditioned on the total being subscribed on or before January 1, 1902. John D. Rockefeller for more than twenty years had taken a generous interest in the work. From him I sought such an oflfer in correspondence with his son. The first request brought an unfavorable response, but some months afterward, at the beginning of the American Jubilee year (1901) I wrote a second letter dated February 13th, and containing the following state- ment: "1. Steadily for over thirty years one-twentieth of the total expenditure for the work of these North American Associations and their friends has gone to support their international agency of supervision. When the Associations were spending annually 1200,000, one-twentieth (|10,000) went for this supervision. Now when the whole brotherhood is spending nearly $3,000,000, one-twentieth of this sum is spent by the same agency. If you ask which one of the twenty-twentieths of total expen- 420 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN diture by all the Associations during these years was the most valuable twentieth, or rather, which one could be spared with least detriment to the usefulness of the whole work, the reply from intelligent Association workers and leaders would be: 'The loss of any one- twentieth or of any three-twentieths of Association expenditure in any one year would have been less detrimental to the whole work than would have been the loss of the one-twentieth needed for International supervision.' 2. During these thirty years the local and State Association Work (costing nineteen-twentieths) has been provided with nineteen millions, net, of permanent property — mostly in the form of local Association buildings — giving stability to the local work, and always in each Association increasing annual donations to current expenses. Over one million annually is being added to this permanent building property. Is not, therefore, the time ripe to give to the supervision agency with its expenditure of one- twentieth (and this the most indispensable twentieth) a similar stability in the shape of a fund amounting to one-nineteenth (one million) of what the local and state Associations with their expenditure of nineteen- twentieths have received? If your father and yourself could now consider favorably the proposition I ventured to make to you last spring, namely, to add to the offer we have received of |100,000 the sum of $250,000 with the proviso that the whole fund should be sub- scribed this year, I believe — after carefully going over the list of our friends — that we would have a good fighting chance of securing this exceedingly valuable Jubilee reenforcement for a work, the blessings and benefits of which among young men are now world-wide. I follow this letter with very earnest prayer that you may be divinely led to such a reply as will make for the progress of the Kingdom of Christ among young men, permanently and throughout the world." To this letter a favorable reply was received, and I felt an assurance that now the fund could be secured. But there was needed much more time and strenuous effort than was then anticipated. On learning of this friendly and generous reply, William E. Dodge confirmed his offer of a tenth of the fund. Miss Helen Miller Gould offered another tenth, and Mrs. N. F. Mc- Cormick, of Chicago, and Gerald Massey, of Toronto, united in subscribing a third tenth. It was in endeavor after the latter part of the fund, com- posed of smaller sums, that more unfavorable than favorable AN ERA OF REMARKABLE PROGRESS 421 replies were received. But Morris K. Jesup, Cyrus H. Mc- Cormick, Cleveland H. Dodge, Charles M. and Frederick B. Pratt, Chairman Warner, Vice-Chairman Marling, D. H. and C. W. McAlpin, and other members and friends of the Com- mittee and its work, responded favorably, so that at the end of the Jubilee year $800,000 had been oflEered and the sub- scribers extended the time limit to July 1, 1902. In the last week of June the fund was completed and before the close of that year nearly two-thirds of it had been received by the Treasurer. First World Tour December, 1902, to June, 1903 It was our friend William E. Dodge who suggested, during the strenuous summer of 1902, that Mrs. Morse and I should make a tour around the world for rest and recreation and for a wider Association visitation than we had yet accomplished. The proposal was heartily favored by the Committee, and on December 6th we set out at midnight, from the Grand Central Station, to take a steamer at Boston for Gibraltar on our way to Marseilles, Suez, and Bombay. It was my first absence from the oflBce during the closing weeks of the fiscal year. Until this time such an absence had seemed impracticable. As our steamer dropped anchor at Gibraltar, from a little launch came a welcome greeting by a friend and former fel- low Secretary — ^the late Mr. Nathan — ^who was then a mission- ary at Tangier. He had heard of our coming, and persuaded us to improve the opportunity to return with him for a visit to Tangier and his fellow missionaries among the Moham- medans of that city, where he was hoping to plant an Asso- ciation. While at Gibraltar, in response to the request of the Army Chaplain, I preached in the church of the garrison on Sunday upon the mission and work of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation. In some respects it was a novel experience. Wearing a voluminous gown, I was preceded up the steep little stairs to the pulpit by a soldier in brilliant red uniform and rattling accouterments, who locked me into a somewhat lofty enclos- ure. At the end of the service he returned, unlocked the door, and escorted me down to the level of my somewhat distant audience. 422 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN While passing through the Canal and part of the Red Sea we enjoyed the marvelous sunsets which can be seen only in that northeastern part of Africa — sunsets the beauties of which never pass from the memory. On Christmas Eve our steamer tarried at Marseilles long enough for us to visit the Association rooms, and receive a cordial greeting from our friend, Secretary Geisendorf, whom we had met at Paris when he was on the stafif of the Associa- tion in that city. At the rooms we found him presiding very hospitably at the Christmas dinner given to a group of home- less young men from many nations, who had gladly come to- gether in response to his call. En route to the Suez Canal we passed safely between Scylla and Charybdis, obtaining an impressive view of Mount Etna. The Christmas holidays were spent in the torrid heat of the Red and Arabian Seas. As our steamer moved slowly up to the pier at Bombay, and we stood on deck among fellow pas- sengers, many of whom were returning to husbands, fathers, family, and kindred, we confessed to "feeling a touch of home- sickness." Suddenly from the mass of upturned expectant faces on the pier came an eager call: "Welcome to India to Mr. and Mrs. Morse," and we recognized Secretary Anderson, of Bombay, and Dr. J. Rutter Williamson, formerly Treasurer of the Student Federation, and now a medical missionary in the Presbyterian Hospital at Miraj. Never were travelers in a strange land better cared for and guided than we were by our friends and fellow Secretaries during our fifty days in India, as we visited Bombay, called at Poona upon the remarkable family of Sorabji, were entertained at Miraj by Drs. Wanless and Williamson, and at Kohlapur in the house in which the parents of our friend Robert Wilder had made their home, and where we occupied the room in which he was born. At Khedgaon, we became acquainted with one of the homes for child widows established by Pundita Ramabai. Then we journeyed northward with Dr. Williamson to Lahore, visiting Jeypore in the state of Rajputana; Agra, where we were favored in seeing the full moon set and the sun rise over the wonderful Taj Mahal; and Delhi, with its many features of historic interest. Returning southward from AN ERA OF REMARKABLE PROGRESS 423 Lahore we were entertained at Allahabad, Jhansi, Benares, and Calcutta by missionaries and Secretaries. From Calcutta we visited Darjeeling and saw some of the wonders of the Hima- layas. En route to Colombo, at Madras and Madura we paused among friends and associates. Every new contact deepened and made more intelligent our sympathy with these heroic fel- low workers in their solicitudes, problems, labors, and achieve- ments. Of sacrifice and complaint we never heard mention, but of forgetfulness and loss of self in the consciousness of service rendered, every evidence was given. Of India, its rivers and mountains and plains, its cities and villages, its many peoples and languages, and their miser- ies and needs ; of British rule in government and army, of uni- versity, college, and school; of heathen temples and Christian churches — of these and many other features of interest, we gained the hopeful impression of Christian travelers, pro- foundly interested in the planting and development of the Christian Church, by a band of fellow Christian workers steadily growing in numbers and already cheered by tokens of accelerating progress from generation to generation. At Colombo on the first of March we were joined by our friends Chairman Warner and his wife. They had arrived on the steamer Victoria in which, on their way to Australia, they had come through sea, canal, and ocean. According to previous arrangement we now joined them and after a voyage of two weeks on the Indian Ocean visited with them ten of the princi- pal cities of Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. At several places we were joined by John E. Mott, who was for a second time visiting the universities of Australasia in the interest of the Student Association work he had founded and organized among their undergraduates. Our next steamer carried us, now a party of six, including Mott and his secretary, Edward C. Jenkins, to Pagopago, Samoa, and Fanning Island, a Canadian cable station, and ap- parently one of the loneliest and most forsaken spots on the face of the earth or the water. At Honolulu Dr. and Mrs. Warner left us, to our great regret, for we could not tarry with them. Landing at San Francisco May 24, 1903, after a journey of many thousand miles by land and sea, and having met with 424 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN no serious mishap, we were devoutly grateful for the in- estimable blessings and opportunities which had followed us these many memorable days. From San Francisco by way of Leadville, Cripple Creek, and Denver, we reached home safely June 6th, after an eventful and comfortable world journey of nearly 22,000 miles by sea and 12,000 miles overland. The Australasian Part of the Tour Of our two months' tour in Australasia (March 15th to May 8th), the following account was sent in a private letter to Wil- liam E. Dodge and some other friends, to one of whom, Mrs. Cyrus H. McOormick, it seemed worth circulating in the form of a newspaper article. It is quoted here as introduction to an account of the sequel of that journey : "In striking contrast with the trip of 6,000 miles in India was our journey in Australia, occupying about the same time, fifty-flve days. In other continents we have visited twenty countries, besides the many peoples of India, but here for the first time we find a nation younger than our own, and bearing every mark of vigorous youth — a people too of our own race, language, and traditions, working out the problems of Church and State in a federation of colonies or states, with leaders who are seeking to make their institutions an advance upon, and an evolution out of those of the Mother Country and our own continent. We began the tour at Adelaide, where a few delegates from some of the Australian Associations had come together for a conference. Our Chairman, Dr. Warner, and his wife and Sec- retary Mott were with us in Adelaide. It was Mott's second visit, and he had come at the call of the various Christian Student Unions which, several years before, he had formed upon the lines of our American Student Work. He had pro- cured for them from us a Supervisory Secretary, with the adequate support for him offered by Australian friends. By reason of this wise provision, the Student Movement has made a steady progress, and in this second visit he is able to add to the staff here a much needed second Supervisory Secretary, after again securing his support on this field of promise. A sadly opposite career has been realized by the City Associa- tions. They are in danger of an arrested development through isolation from one another. They have not by patient brotherly intercourse and conference learned of one another's excellencies and mistakes, and so have not been led to form an effective agency of supervision. The Secretaries also have failed to meet AN ERA OF REMARKABLE PROGRESS 425 together and stimulate one another to train younger and better men for this indispensable office. Good men and true I find are members of the Boards of Directors, but are troubled and bewildered by the feebleness of a work without trained em- ployed officers. As a Secretary I feel ashamed and mortified to confess how much secretarial deficiency has to do with what- ever Association inefficiency exists here. Very hearty welcome has been given us both by laymen and Secretaries. At the public receptions accorded us, we have tried to improve the opportunity to state to appreciative hearers the conditions of such success as has been achieved in our American Association Movement. In meeting these friends we have realized that success similar to ours is certainly within their reach. In many other countries I have found feebleness in Association work, but nowhere else such prime conditions of speedy success as would offer themselves here in the visit and work of a few good Secretaries. These Christian laymen on boards of directors are more like our own countrymen of similar standing than any I have met in other lands. I feel a longing to stay and work out this problem to a solution! Any one of my qualified associates in International or State Work and some in local work could do for city Associations here what Secretary Mott accomplished seven years ago for the Student Work by his four months' visit in the interest of the World's Student Federation. Already at a few points, excellent Secretaries appreciate the situation, and are eager to promote secretarial efficiency on the lines we have followed. With timely help from us, and with the precedent leadership and sympathy of their own Student Movement, our Australian brotherhood will in due time rank — as their Student Unions now rank — ^with our own North American Associations. Throughout our trip friends have given us much more than Association welcome and reception. We have greatly enjoyed the varied scenery through which we have passed, especially in Tasmania and New Zealand, which have not suffered from the seven years of severe drought in Australia. This drought was ended several weeks ago by abundant— in some instances devastating — rain. Its long continuance has, for the time, naturally discouraged immigration into Australia. Some dis- couragement of a different sort has been occasioned, in the two other more favored colonies, by the influence of the labor element and labor unions. If among us some fear we are com- ing under the rule and dominion of the capitalist, in this part of the world a similar apprehension is felt by some, lest the reign of the laborer and employe may prove to be an experience uncomfortable and undesirable. The complaint— not unknown among us— is uttered here that government and legislation 426 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN are in the hands of the less capable, and that the indifference of the better educated classes is the bane of politics. With Mott's Student Work in Australia I am deeply im- pressed. There was, indeed, urgent need of our University Association Movement. Only a man of very commanding in- fluence could have set in motion the sane, vigorous, and grow- ing Student Work now in progress. His second visit has been signalized by the awakening of a wide and deep interest in home and foreign missionary work. As with us and in Great Britain, a first Student Missionary or Volunteer Convention has called together, both in Australia and New Zealand, a larger convocation of undergraduate students than ever before assembled in these colonies." Some Results of the Tour The Association situation which this letter describes so deeply impressed me that, a few days before leaving Auckland, I wrote a letter setting forth the weakness and strength of the Australasian Association Movement, and made appeal to the strong element — the laymen in the directorship — to do what they could, each in his Association, to apply the secretarial remedy which the situation called for. This letter, multiplied by the typewriter, was mailed to a list of the Presidents and Directors of the Associations in the cities where we had been their privileged guests, and where they had listened to the reports they had asked from us, of the Association work in our own cities. But I returned home under the strong con- viction that what was needed to accomplish the desired change, was a visiting Secretary from our Movement, who could tarry longer on the field than I had been able to do. Soon after reaching home I was rejoiced to learn that the President and Directors of the Montreal Association were ar- ranging to give to their faithful veteran Secretary, Daniel Budge, and his wife, in recognition of a quarter century of remarkable service, a sabbatical year of absence from the tax- ing routine of his strenuous work. In consultation with him about his journey, on the basis of our own experience in mak- ing a similar tour, I described our two months' experience in Australasia, and suggested that if he could seize the oppor- tunity of a longer stay, he could accomplish a work, the need and value of which he fully appreciated. Further, as a Canadian, from a sister colony of the British Empire, he had AN ERA OF REMARKABLE PROGRESS 427 an approach superior to what any Association workers from the United States could command. His unselfish temper and disposition welcomed such a destination for this year's tour of freedom from official responsibility. The decision was as unselfishly concurred in by Mrs. Budge, and his visit and work proved of untold blessing to the young men of Australasia. Pour months were spent by him in successful endeavor to place the work on a better footing in the principal cities. A fund was secured to pay the expenses, for the next three years, of the supervision which he had successfully initiated. After his return home, when it proved difficult to secure the right man for Supervising Secretary, he consented to make a second visit, following up the good results of his first endeavor. Later, at our united solicitation, Lyman L. Pierce, at the close of his secretaryship in Washington, D. C, and before his term of service in Pittsburgh, Pa., and San Francisco, con- sented to spend nearly two years as Supervising Secretary in Australia and New Zealand. Continuing this good work, Fred B. Smith, as an Interna- tional Secretary, visited Australia, and in the evangelistic line of service, efficiently cooperated with Association leaders and workers. One good result of his visit was a return visit in 1907, from the Secretary of the Sydney Association, John J. Virgo, who was cordially welcomed to the International Con- vention of that year in Washington, D. C, and who cooperated in our Eeligious Work, being especially acceptable in the serv- ice of song. During these past years there has been increasing intercourse between the Association workers on both continents. Young men from Australia have come, and continue to come, to our Training Colleges and Summer Schools. Some tarry with us, and others return to render more efficient service to the young men and boys of Australia and New Zealand. Connected with this growing intercourse with the Associa- tion men of Australia was the urgent call from the London Committee and Association to Secretary John J. Virgo, of Sydney, to the General Secretaryship of the parent Association in London, made vacant in 1908 by the sudden death of John Putterill. Similar intercourse with fellow workers in South Africa was 428 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN promoted by the visits of John E. Mott and Fred B. Smith, and in 1910 John S. Tichenor, an International Secretary of the Army and Navy Department, accepted a call to become Secretary of the National Committee of South Africa. He served acceptably for two years and then returned to become chief Secretary of the Army and Navy Department. Besides Tichenor, four other Secretaries from North America, upon suggestion from the office of the International Committee, have been called to secretarial service in South Africa, and have rendered a temporary service of value. By the effect upon Australian, New Zealand, and South African Association Movements of visitation and visitors from North America, one is reminded of the effect of similar visita- tion years before this upon the German Movement by von Schluembach^^ and upon the work in France and Kussia by Franklin Gaylord. Progeess of Local and International Work These last ten years of Dr. Warner's chairmanship coincided with the first decade of the new century, and were a period of rapidly accelerated growth within the North American Asso- ciation Movement. Among the outstanding features of this growth were the increase of employed officers of growing capacity and the en- listment of laymen of ability as Directors and Committeemen. The entire employed force in 1901 numbered 1,500 ; in 1911, 3,500. The total of current expenses for 1901 was over |3,000,- 000, in 1911 over $11,000,000, and the $22,000,000 invested in Association buildings in 1901 had become 160,000,000 in 1911. This growing financial support was an expression of growing confidence in the Association by citizens of public spirit, who gave generously for a better equipment of the work. In the achievement of this progress the International Com- mittee continued a substantial factor, steadily increasing the strength of its membership and staff. At the beginning of this period of enlargement the million dollar permanent fund had been wisely secured as a strong financial reenforcement. Each sub-committee and its staff were assuming an increasing re- sponsibility for both expense and administration, and the wi^e 1 Pp. 182-6, 233-6, AN BRA OF REMARKABLE PROGRESS 429 rule had been adopted that no Secretary could be added to the staff of the Committee until his salary and expenses had been provided for. This provision the sub-committee needing him was expected to secure. Before 1904 four new departments —Army and Navy, Boys, County, and Industrial— had in- creased the number to fifteen. A sixteenth — the Secretarial — emerged from the Central Office, where it had been located and growing from the begin- ning, first under the General Secretary, then since 1876 under Erskine Uhl and Jacob Bowne, until in 1889, their successor began a career not yet ended. Of him after his first decade of service I reported in the Year Book of 1899 : "John Glover has maintained the high efficiency of the Secretarial Bureau. During the last two years (1897-99) 294 applications to fill vacancies have been received by him, of which 134 were filled by our help and 164 by other agencies." Beginning with the Year Book of 1906, the Secretarial Department is listed among those of "internal development" with John Glover as its Sec- retary. My consciousness and advocacy of it as a department would have listed it as such much earlier than this date. But the fact that every one of the staff lent a hand in its activities had caused it to linger in the Central Office. Charles 8. Ward, Field and Financial Secretary A seventeenth department was created by Field Secretary Charles S. Ward in his development of the short campaign method of securing Association building funds. During the four years ending in 1909 he conducted by this now familiar method campaigns resulting in $6,500,000. This money was given by 140,000 people and was solicited by 7,500 committee workers. More important than the money was the enlistment of the workers who solicited and the men who gave. In each instance it was "a civic movement of significant helpfulness to the community and its citizenship and to the kingdom of God." It enlisted forces and fellowships which afterwards worked effectively in other enterprises for the public good. During these four years the buildings increased in number from 517 to 680, their value from $28,000,000 to |47,000,000. - It was a good beginning of a building movement which Secretary Ward continues to lead, so that in 1917 the buildings number 430 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN 800, valued with other real estate at $90,000,000. Of this total the campaigns led by Secretary Ward in 106 cities have yielded nearly $35,000,000. In 1912 he crossed the Atlantic to con- duct a campaign in London, which resulted in a fund with which was erected the first Association building in that city planned and completed to accommodate the fourfold Associa- tion work. In 1917 when for the Red Cross a fund of $100,000,- 000 was needed, he organized that national campaign of solici- tation in which within ten days the amount was oversubscribed. The Latest San Francisco Building Not all the new buildings of this period were obtained by the short campaign method. A notable exception was the present San Francisco building. In 1906 earthquake and fire created in that city a desolation out of which came an im- portunate, imperative call for a half million dollar fund to be secured beyond the city limits. Some time before this Presi- dent Theodore Eoosevelt had presided in San Francisco at the impressive and joyous ceremony of the burning of the mortgage upon the Association building which had now perished. I joined Secretary McCoy in a call upon the President at the White House and in a request for his cooperation ; it was cheer- fully given in the form of a helpful letter which we carried with us to New York. There we hoped to secure most of the fund. I was vividly reminded of McCoy's coming to our city twenty-five years before this time to receive a call to San Francisco from^ Jesup, Dodge, Moody, and McBumey. Dodge and McBurney were no longer living, but Cleveland H. Dodge received McCoy most cordially and consented to be Treasurer of the Committee to aid in securing the Fund. Morris K. Jesup was then sought at his country seat. It was now Mc- Coy's turn to solicit and he received a reply as favorable as he himself had given twenty-five years before. For not only was Mr. Jesup willing to act as Chairman of the Fund Com- mittee but he offered |50,000 as the first contribution. Mrs. William E. Dodge and her son offered an even larger amount. John D. Rockefeller was absent in Europe but by cable his offer of half ($250,000) the fund reached us. And, when even "Pp. 179, 180. AN ERA OF REMARKABLE PROGRESS 431 with these substantial gifts, McCoy's path to the goal proved difficult, the treasurer completed the fund by a gift of the balance ($30,000) needed, and McCoy returned to the stricken city and Association with this generous tribute by old friends and new to the quarter century of faithful successful service he had given to the young men of the Pacific Coast. Two Associate General Secretaries Beyond other members of the Committee's staff two were carrying responsibilities specially helpful to the General Sec- retary. Mott already was responsible for the Student and Foreign Work. Clarence J. Hicks had been the efficient Secre- tary of the Railroad Department since 1890 and remarkable progress had been made by him in extending this work upon interstate systems. Probably no department on the home field had developed more rapidly during the decade, and he had also enlisted and developed a group of well chosen, well qualified men on the railroad staff. Both Mott and Hicks attended the World's Conference of 1898 and succeeded McBurney on the Delegates' Committee. All the reasons which had led me in 1895 to suggest a suc- cessor in the person of Mott had greater weight now. I was older — arriving in 1901 at the age, sixty years, to which I had always looked forward as the time of withdrawal from the secretaryship. If further continuance in office was desired, it was urgently necessary to distribute more of the official responsibilities than I had yet succeeded in doing. Could not these two Secretaries, by deputing to their associates some of their present responsibilities, undertake more of the obligations of the General Secretary? This question was carefully con- sidered with the Executive Committee and other counsellors. All were in favor of such an arrangement. At the September meeting of 1900, in a long and intimate deliberation with Mott and Hicks, we went over the whole sub- ject. On their part one condition of the new arrangement was a withdrawal, as soon as practicable, from their positions at the head of the Student and Eailroad Departments, that they might be released to an equal relation to all departments —one to the home and the other to the foreign field— and to the work as a whole. 432 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Another agreement between us was that I should not be ex- pected at any time to act as mediator or harmonizer between the two Associates. They were to depend wholly upon one another to keep the peace, if any threat of disturbance in any direction should arise. Without such a Median and Persian rule of relationships, it did not seem to me to be worth while to undertake the fellowship and its responsibilities. This item in the agreement received a hearty assent, and was consistently lived up to. It stimulated from the beginning entire frank- ness among all of us. The result of this brotherly and satisfactory conference was reported to the Committee and in its turn the Committee re- ported to the Jubilee Convention of 1901 as follows: "The division of the work into two general departments — the home and foreign — ^has been continued, and, in order to give the General Secretary time to attend to the more important mat- ters of general supervision and administration, the Committee, after fifteen months of careful experimentation has appointed as Associate General Secretaries, to cooperate with Mr. Morse, Clarence J. Hicks for the Home, and John E. Mott for the Foreign Department." This new arrangement ended the General Secretaryship of the Committee's whole work, which I had held since 1872. Informally for nearly two years both these Associates already had given me such brotherly cooperation, and had undertaken such responsibilities that the new arrangement was really be- gun before it was formally adopted by Committee and Con- vention. This secretarial partnership continued in force for nearly eleven years in unbroken brotherly harmony. Enough concert of action was secured to keep together all parts and depart- ments of the Committee's administration and the fellow workers identified with each. In planning and holding (1) monthly meetings of the whole Committee, (2) the annual meetings of the Committee and its entire staff, (3) the anniversary dinner with several hundred friends of the work as guests, (4) the triennial Conventions of the period — two of which were Jubilee Commemorations, also in attending World Conferences, and in all the consulta- tions over major problems of the Committee and its work, three JoHx R. MoTT, Clarence J. Hicks, axd Richard C. Morse AN ERA OP REMARKABLE PROGRESS 433 instead of only one were now available to discharge the ever growing responsibilities of the General Secretaryship. Peogrbss on the Foreign Field Under Mott's progressive leadership, the stafiE of the Com- mittee on the foreign field rapidly increased during this decade. In 1903 "the coordinate Foreign Department" was organized and a vice chairman, William D. Murray, was elected as the head of it with six committeemen as his associates. Mott was in charge of the secretarial administration at the home base, with Hans P. Andersen and Ethan T. Colton as his helpers. Thirty-eight Secretaries were placed in strategic city and uni- versity centers in ten countries of Asia and Latin America and six of these with six Japanese fellow- workers were begin- ning in the Japanese Army Association work "similar to that carried on by the Committee during our war with Spain." Fletcher S. Brockman, National Secretary for China, Edward C. Carter and G. Sherwood Eddy for India, Galen M. Fisher for Japan, Myron A. Clark for Brazil, with their associates, were calling for needed reenforcements in men and buildings. Such response came from the home base that at the end of this decade the foreign staff numbered 132 Secretaries who were so well located and so ef&ciently at work at city and university centers in fifteen countries that a Conference at the White House, invited by President Taft when approached by Mott and Brockman, resulted in securing two million dollars to plant over forty Association buildings upon the foreign field. It was during these years that Secretary B. T. Colton at the home base began, with rare faith, patience, and persistence, to carry his appeal for the Foreign Work to the conscience of the leaders, directors, and workers of the local Associations. From the beginning the Foreign Work had been supported by in- dividual donors or groups of donors in the local Associations who offered to give for a specified period. But Colton carried the appeal of the work to the conscience of the individual Asso- ciation and its management with such wisdom and persistence that favorable reply began to come— slowly at first, but surely as the years of his arduous endeavor passed by. The coronation of this noble achievement arrived years afterward in connec- tion with the fine cooperation of Secretary Messer, of Chicago, 434 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN during his world tour of 1913 and '14 and in the report of the Commission bearing his name to the Cleveland Convention of 1916. That memorable Convention responded by authorizing a staff of 200 foreign Secretaries, an annual budget of |600,000 plus an annual expenditure for foreign buildings of |500,000 and by recommending "that the North American Associations recognize that the obligation for the foreign work program rests primarily upon our Associations and that each Associa- tion annually, through its board of directors, should adopt an adequate foreign work program." Resignation of Secretary Hicks In the eleventh year of his Associate General Secretaryship, Hicks had occasion to consider very seriously the offer from a member of the Committee of a very important business posi- tion. Before he reached a conclusion, we three Associates, at his request, had met together three times for careful and thorough discussion of the question. In the atmosphere of the trustful, brotherly deliberation in which we had worked to- gether harmoniously he desired to settle this vital question. The considerations relating to himself and his family, to his fellow Secretaries, and to his life work, "which finally pre- vailed with us need not be enumerated, but we all agreed heartily that the wise course for him was to accept the very desirable offer which had come to him, unsolicited. At the next meeting of the Committee (November, 1911) his resignation was accepted and the acceptance was accom- panied by the Committee's strong and heartfelt recognition of the remarkable service which during twenty years he had ren- dered as an International Secretary. In the path he has fol- lowed since this decision, he has entered upon Association and Christian welfare work among men of the industrial classes at the west first, and now (1917) in the east. In this good work he is joined by some of his former fellow Secretaries. He is showing the same capacity for leadership and usefulness which made him for so many years deservedly eminent among the efQcient Secretaries of the International Committee. In the following paragraphs of this chapter are given the outstanding features upon the home field of the last decade (1901-1910) of Dr. Warner's administration. AN ERA OF REMARKABLE PROGRESS 435 The North American Jubilee op 1901 at Montreal and Boston The origin of the Young Men's Christian Association dates from the beginning of the local Association, but its more orderly development and efficiency began later with the agen- cies of supervision which these local Associations created in conference and convention. The local Association, therefore, in Europe dates its Jubilee from 1844 at London and in North America from 1851 at Montreal and Boston. But while in Europe the agencies of international supervision date their Jubilee from the first World's Conference at Paris in 1855, it was at an earlier date, in 1854, that the first International Convention met in North America at Buffalo. Accordingly the remarkable growth of this brotherhood during its first half-century suggested four Jubilee celebrations, two local and two general, to take place in 1894 at London ; in 1901 at Mon- treal and Boston; in 1904 at BuflEalo, and in 1905 at Paris. Of the first of these commemorations by the World's Confer- ence at London in 1894, and of my relation to it, account has already been given.^ The second, like the first, commemorated the origin of the local Association, and was fittingly observed for North America in the two cities of Montreal and Boston, where in 1851, within a few weeks of one another, the first two Associations in North America, without any knowledge each of the other, were organized by suggestion from the parent society in London. The two North American Jubilees of 1901 and 1904, there- fore, occurred between the dates of the two held in Europe, for while the parent local Association was formed in London, the American Associations were more prompt than the older European Associations in forming a representative interna- tional organization and the first International Association Convention met in North America at Buffalo (1854) a year before the first World's Conference in Paris (1855). 4. Stormy Preparation for a Jubilee Of the first two Associations in North America, the one at Boston adopted the evangelical church basis as a part of its « Pp. 244-60. 436 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Constitution, while the Montreal Association followed this precedent a year or more afterward. In this fundamental pro- vision, the Boston society has been followed by all the North American Associations, which were never more loyal to the Church than at the close of their first fifty years. To the Convention at Grand Rapids in 1899, the delegations from Montreal and Boston naturally brought competing invita- tions for the next Convention, which was to be held in the Jubilee year. A competition between invitations to the next meeting, however, was an incident of every Convention. Ac- cording to a convention rule, after these usual competing invi- tations had been presented in five minute talks they were in- variably referred to the International Committee for a later final decision. Any protracted discussion and difficult decision on the floor of the Convention was thus avoided. But in this exceptional competition for a Jubilee commemoration, the Com- mittee asked the Convention to make the decision. In comply- ing with this request relating to such an historic meeting, the Convention should have suspended its- rule and allowed suffi- cient time to discuss the merits or claims of the two invitations, coming as they did also from delegates of two different na- tionalities. The attempt to confine the discussion to the usual ten minutes resulted in a conclusion reached too hurriedly with- out sufficient discussion. The Montreal invitation was accepted by the large majority vote of 245 to 80. It was Saturday morn- ing, in the last business session of the Convention when this vote was taken. As the program stood, the afternoon was to be occupied with sectional meetings and the evening session wholly with addresses. During the afternoon I became most painfully aware of a serious disappointment, amounting to indignation, felt by a large group of delegates, because of the unjust denial to them of an opportunity to present the considerations favorable to the acceptance of the Boston invitation. Was it too late to get the subject before the Convention for a more deliberative consideration? What would the Canadian brethren think of a movement, which on the face of it was so discourteous to Canada's foremost Association? After the evening session had been begun, an anxious coun- cil of leading delegates met on the platform, behind the AN ERA OF REMARKABLE PROGRESS 437 speakers. There was a unanimous conviction that, in the in- terest of fair play, an opportunity for reconsideration was called for. President C. T. Williams of the Montreal delegation, who had courteously and convincingly presented the invita- tion from his city, shared in this deliberation, and in the finest Christian spirit took the ground that the Convention was en- titled to judge for itself whether it had made a mistake. A veteran member of the Committee on the International Committee's report, Wm. K. Jennings, of Pittsburgh, who had voted in favor of Montreal, was willing to move a reconsidera- tion, and Secretary Edwin F. See, of Brooklyn, was willing to second the motion. Walter Douglas, the Philadelphia Sec- retary, who had been prevented by the time limit from mak- ing the principal plea for Boston, was willing now to make that plea. At the close of the evening session, a reconsideration was accomplished, and after thirty minutes of discussion, in which Secretary Douglas and President Williams took part, the Convention reversed its action of the afternoon, and ac- cepted the invitation from Boston by a vote of 245 to 38. It was perhaps the most unexpected, trying, and exciting of convention incidents in my experience. No such sudden change of opinion and vote, by so many delegates, could be ac- complished without many disappointments and heart burnings ; but that the change was a wise one the result abundantly demonstrated. Probably nowhere in our brotherhood was this conviction more intelligent and hearty finally than at Montreal, and in the mind and heart of President Williams, who from the first acted the part of a Christian gentleman. But the process of arriving at this wide, general, and gracious con- viction was made anxious and difBcult by the unhappy pro- cedure through which the Grand Rapids Convention reached its final vote. There were many misunderstandings to correct, and it was my lot to encounter not a few of them. Soon after the Con- vention adjourned. Secretary Budge, who at the time of the Convention was abroad, returned to Montreal and encountered so many queries and misunderstandings, that he and President Williams asked me to come to that city and meet the Directors of the Association in the interest of a better understanding of what had taken place at the Convention. This was indeed 438 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN a brotherly attitude on the part of wise, sympathetic friends, who insisted on securing correct information from headquar- ters. All the members of the Montreal Board of Directors came together to meet me. With some of the misunderstand- ings I was acquainted; others appeared in the protracted deliberation of that evening. With the invaluable help of both President and Secretary, every one of these was frankly and fully considered and corrected, and another attempt of the adversary to destroy brotherly confidence between fellow workers was happily defeated. The Program of the Jubilee Convention Upon the adjournment of the Convention of 1899 the Inter- national Committee began preparation for the Jubilee Com- memoration. At its annual September meeting with the Sec- retaries, an elaborate program was presented by Secretary Mott, which included memorial exercises at Montreal as well as at the Convention in Boston. In addition to the convention sessions, it was proposed to make a thorough historical exhibit of the entire work — local, State, and International — in all its departments, including the development of each. During the two years of this preparation in the many tasks involved, Mott and Hicks began effectively their Associate General Sec- retaryship before either Committee or Convention had created the ofBce. Another collaborator of first rank was the senior member of the Committee, James Stokes. For many years, as a mem- ber of the World's Committee, he had been deeply and gen- erously interested in Association work in Europe and desirous of promoting a visit to the North American Associations by a number of the elect leaders and Association workers on the parent continent. At the World's Conference of 1898 in Basle, he had met Secretary Christian Phildius, of Berlin, and Pastor Christian Klug, Chairman of the German National Committee, both of whom had manifested an active interest in such a visit to the American Associations. By the generous provision of Mr. Stokes these two friends, with a group of other European delegates, were enabled to cross the Atlantic and attend the Jubilee. They were among the seventy-six foreign representa- tives who came as fraternal delegates from fourteen countries AN ERA OF REMARKABLE PROGRESS 439 of Europe, and from China, India, Japan, Brazil, South Africa, and Australia. The great themes appropriate to the Jubilee were carefully worked out, and speakers secured who fulfilled all expectations. To the Commemoration at Montreal, June 9-10, there came as a principal speaker, the son of Sir George Williams, Howard Williams, who had crossed the Atlantic to represent his honored father. He and Mott made very appropriate addresses at the unveiling of a memorial tablet in Montreal, where were present the Chairman of the International Committee, Dr. Lucien C. Warner, Vice-Chairman Marling, the General Sec- retary, and other officers of the Committee. At Montreal and Boston Lord Kinnaird represented the Eng- lish National Council, and its Secretary, W. H. Mills, and the London Secretary, J. H. Putterill, were also among the Brit- ish representatives. National General Secretaries Sautter, of France, and Helbing, of Germany, and General Secretaries Fermaud and Phildius of the World's Committee were also present. The Convention exceeded any of its predecessors in number of delegates — 1,198 — and corresponding members — 1,365 — and fittingly commemorated in point of attendance the remark- able growth of the Associations during their first half-cen- tury. The living veterans from the period before the Civil War were present in force. William E. Dodge was chosen Presi- dent, and Howard Williams, as the representative of his father, was chosen honorary President. Cephas Brainerd made one of the principal addresses. James Stokes, as Vice-President, presided on Jubilee Memorial day. Seventy-six delegates had come across almost all the oceans to represent Associations upon all the other continents. The British and German delega- tions received and presented cablegram greetings from King and Kaiser. The ExMMt the Commanding Feature But the distinctive Jubilee feature which commanded thoughtful attention beyond all others, was a complete historic exhibit of the work of the North American Associations, most ably and originally conceived and put together by Educational 440 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Secretary George B. Hodge — ^admirable forecast of the yet greater work on this line which he was to begin in 1916 as the expert head of the Committee's Bureau of Records.* This Jubilee exhibit was composed of diagrams, maps, charts, photo- graphs, models, and historic articles and souvenirs. These were planted on 51,000 square feet of floor space and presented vividly the varied lines of Association work — ^physical, educa- tional, social, and spiritual. In this way was pictured the dis- i:ribution of this many-sided work among the many classes of young men by whom it had been adopted and adapted so as to become a form of efficient Christian social welfare work. It was examined by many thoughtful visitors who came more than once to study it. It revealed very clearly the number and variety of these classes of young men, in city and country, in trade and commerce, in school and university, on the railroad, in mill, factory, mine and quarry, on the farm, in Army and Navy, and not only in North America, but in Asia, South America, and the Levant, whither its message and methods had been carried by qualified leaders and workers from North America. In this central significant feature the commemoration pre- sented an interesting contrast to the preceding local Associa- tion Jubilee at London in 1894, where the whole conspicuous emphasis was upon a presentation of the work of the brother- hood in impressive discourse from pulpit and platform, and in the noble exalting personality of the Founder, Sir George Williams. For twenty-four years, since 1877, the Conventions had met biennially. At Boston there was a strong prevailing reason for making the next interval a triennial one, since in 1904 would arrive the Jubilee year of the Convention itself, which had met first at Buflfalo in 1854. Without discussion it was voted to accept the invitation from Buffalo to hold the next Convention in that city, in the year 1904, and in commemora- tion of the Jubilee of North American Association supervision. In 1877, in order to make the convention meetings biennial, a serious, protracted and critical discussion was necessary. Now the Convention became triennial without a sign of opposi- tion in this or any succeeding Convention. *P. 271. CHAPTER XXI CONTINUED TWENTIETH CENTUEY PROGRESS North American Jubilee of 1904 at Buffalo Only two years had been given to preparation for the Jubilee celebration of 1901, but for the controversy which was the absorbing theme of the Jubilee Convention of 1904, preparation had been in progress for many years. The subject of this controversy was the relation existing, and which should exist, between the agencies of supervision — the International and the State and Provincial organizations. The relation between these began to be formed as early as 1866, when the Interna- tional Convention of that year voted to promote, through its corresponding members in each State and Province, a second agency of supervision — the State and Provincial Conventions, with their executive Committees. These were formed on the pattern of the International organization. A Convention devoted to an exciting debate ending in a decisive vote did not seem appropriate to a Jubilee celebration, and in accord with the precedent of other Jubilees the friends and leaders of either agency would not have chosen such an arena. Following precedent, the principal object would have been to set forth at Buffalo the many achievements of these agencies of supervision, which had strongly contributed to the remarkable growth of the Associations. But by the gracious guidance of a better wisdom than our own, and by that divine presence and help which has been granted this brotherhood, especially in its hours of sorest need, this remarkable con- troversy was conducted in such a Christian and brotherly spirit as to reflect credit upon those engaged in it, and to result in Jubilee blessings upon 1,300 delegates, their agencies of supervision, and the leaders and workers of these agencies. Its beneficent outlook was upon the future and very slightly but not slightingly on the past. The opinion of a large majority prevailed at the Convention, but this led in th^ future 441 442 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN not to a growing separation but to a growing unity within the brotherhood. The Usual Jubilee Features Some of the usual features of a Jubilee, however, were care- fully provided for. The Convention was held at BufEalo, the place where the first .International Convention had met in 1854. The few survivors from among the thirty-seven dele- gates who attended the first Convention were corresponded with, and of the number four were present. Among these was Oscar Cobb, of Buffalo, who, in 1854, as host for the Buffalo Association, had been one of the signers of the call to that first Convention. He had been graciously spared to sign, at the age of 83, the call to this Jubilee meeting. A very inter- esting meeting of these veterans — W. J. Ehees, of the Smith- sonian Institution, Washington, D. C; Hon. J. L. Eldredge, Topeka, Kansas; Kev. Samuel T. Lowrie, D.D., Philadelphia, and Oscar Cobb, Buffalo — was held in the rooms which forty years before were occupied by the Buffalo Association, and in which the first Convention met. In the preface of its report to this Jubilee Convention the Committee says : "Until 1874, the eighth year of the committee's service, Robert Weidensall and the General Secretary were the only employed officers of the Committee. During the fol- lowing ten years ('74-'84) the number had increased to eleven; in '94 to twenty-eight on the home and seven on the foreign field ; in this year, 1904, to fifty-one on the home and thirty-four on the foreign field. The budget of expense in '74 for the pre- ceding year was $7,500 ; in '84, |30,500 ; in '94, $63,200 on the home and |18,078 on the foreign field; in 1904, |1 56,000 on the home and $102,000 on the foreign field." At the request of the Committee I prepared and read a paper on "Fifty Years of Federation of the Young Men's Chris- tian Associations of North America."^ Soon afterward this paper, somewhat enlarged, was published by the Committee, making a volume of 111 pages entitled "Fifty Years of Federa- tion." This was used as a textbook at Summer Schools and elsewhere until I prepared, too hurriedly, and the Committee ^ For extracts from this paper see Appendix II. CONTINUED TWENTIETH CENTURY PROGRESS 443 published in 1913 a fuller but still very summary "Association History." Nature of Controversy and of Association Supervision For the main controversial theme of the Convention much more taxing preparation was made by the Committee, its Chairman and staff, and especially by its General Secretary. The State and Provincial organizations owed their existence to the action of the International Convention, which called together, through its Committee, representatives of the Asso- ciations in each State and Province. A few such conven- tions first met in 1866; and now there were thirty-five State and Provincial Committees, employing eighty-four supervisory Secretaries. The International Committee had a force of fifty- one Secretaries. The cost of the State Work had become greater than that of the International. Both agencies, Inter- national and State, had been created as independent agencies by the local Associations as they in succession created both. There was therefore nothing mandatory or authoritative in the relation of each to the other nor yet in the relations of each to the local Association. All these relationships were advisory. A common supervisory service was due to the local Association, by both agencies — a service of advice, followed by cooperation, both advice and cooperation growing out of and guided by a supervision or oversight by that one of the two parties concerned which had an oversight of the field. But it was a supervision without authority. When the advice and cooperation were wise and effective, influence was gained and accumulated by each agency. Sometimes this influence had the appearance of authority. But this appearance was mis- leading. The relation between the two agencies had been one of Christian brotherly comity and mutual consideration. State Secretaries were ex officio delegates to the International Con- ventions, and International Committee members and Secre- taries were invariably found on the program of the State Con- ventions. Some members of the International Committee were also members of the State Committees in the states where they resided. The early years of the State Conventions were an era of good feeling, but as these organizations grew stronger the inevitable 444 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN question arose: which one of the two, on a given field, had priority over the other, in relation to the local organization? And if no such priority yet existed, was it desirable now to pronounce and create a priority? Mistakes more or less seri- ous had been made by Secretaries of both organizations and the law of comity and mutual consideration had not been in- variably observed. Grand- Rapids Resolutions In the interests of peace and a better understanding I made an attempt in 1899 to compact into four resolutions a state- ment of working relationships, as these were understood by the International Committee, to be binding upon both agencies of supervision, and upon the local Associations. The Com- mittee thought well enough of these resolutions to incorporate them in their report to the Convention of that year, at Grand Rapids. In the discussion of them some amendments were suggested, but rejected by the Convention. • A substitute was then offered, which also was rejected. The resolutions, as re- ported by the Committee, were then adopted and became known as "The Grand Rapids Resolutions." They read as follows: "Resolved, 1. That the International and State Committees exist as independent supervisory agencies, directly and equally related to the local organization, which is the original and independ- ent unit in the brotherhood of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciations, and that the relation of the supervisory agencies to the local organizations is as a rule advisory. 2. That in the relations of comity, which have been well established by usage hitherto, it is understood that the Inter- national Committee as a rule exercises general, and the State Committee exercises close supervision, it- being also under- stood that by the terms, general and close, nothing is intended inconsistent with the direct and equal relation of each local organization to both the International and State organizations. 3. That it is desirable that the International Committee, in each department of its work, plan to meet the needs of fields where State and Provincial organizations exist, in conference with such organizations, in such a way as to supplement, not duplicate, the corresponding department of state or provincial work, and to secure by such adjustment of forces economy of effort, time, and money. 4. That the International Committee, in forming and d^ CONTINUED TWENTIETH CENTURY PROGRESS 446 veloping State and Provincial organizations, place emphasis upon the responsibility vested in these organizations and that cooperation with them be carefully cultivated." The Comndttee of Twenty-One and the Two Differing Views The discussion at the Convention plainly indicated that something supplemental to the Grand Rapids Resolutions was called for and a committee of seven was appointed to con- sider, and if possible to devise, and report to the next Conven- tion, "a plan by which the relation of the International, State, and Provincial Committees and local Associations, and the functions of each supervisory agency may be more clearly defined." Cyrus H. McCormick, of Chicago, was appointed Chairman of this committee, but at the next Convention of 1901 could only report progress. The Convention of 1901 therefore reaf- firmed the Grand Rapids Resolutions and increased the mem- bership of the committee from seven to twenty-one, asking the Chairman to appoint the additional members needed to make a full representative committee. Mr. McCormick proceeded to a very careful selection, seek- ing to form a membership of which the twenty, beside the Chairman, should be equally divided between those who held the two views entertained regarding relationships of the two agencies. In this selection and in all the proceedings as chair- man he showed a rare impartiality. During the discussions of the Committee no certain knowledge of his own opinion was obtained, and not until the final majority and minority reports of the Committee were framed, ready for signature before sub- mission to the Convention, was it known which of the two he would sign. This Committee, so carefully appointed, was composed wholly of laymen, but all had had experience in the manage- ment of local Association work. Eight of them were, or had been. Presidents of the Associations of New York, Chicago, Milwaukee, Montreal, Cleveland, Oakland, Cal., Ottumwa, Iowa, and Germantown, Pa. Eight were, or had been. Association Directors in New York City, Chicago, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Louisville, Nashville, Bloomington, Ind., and New Haven, Conn. Of these Cephas 446 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG ME1 o 2: z: o f? < O q: IlJ z ^ 7 H H < < U III X o 1 lU I — SCCREnPUl BOYS PHYSICAL EDUCATIONAI SPECIAL RELIGIOUS "™ BIBliSTUBY AND LITEBATUBE FIELD 1-8 COLORED ARMY AND NAVV STUDENT — industrMi RAILROAD lASSOCIATION 1 MEN BUSINESS AND FINANCE OFFICE AND muuTiou OFElCtCOM SECIIETAIIIES >- § s LATIN AMEIRICA SOUTHERN ASIA EASTERN ASIA C^ MIS5VDEVT INAM.ASS CONTINUED TWENTIETH CENTURY PROGRESS 455 ference in 1874, as one of the first helps in seeking and finding for the Committee the constituency of supporters, without whom Its work could not have been continued and developed. Dr. Warner's pamphlet sets forth tersely the stage of develop- ment at which the Committee and its work had now arrived The form of organization outlined in the accompanying dia- gram had been framed and adopted at the suggestion of Secre- tary C. J. Hicks, and was based on a chart of the organization of the Pennsylvania Railroad, by which he had been favorably impressed when he had seen it in the Directors' Room of that system. The scheme of distribution lent itself admirably to a similar distribution of the two main divisions of the Com- mittee's work, and was carefully thought out by the Executive Committee and its *Secretaries. The International Committee's Building, 1906-1907 Building Site and Fund Of the successive oflBces of the International Committee until and including that of 1898, mention has already been made.3 In 1898, with a staff of thirty-two Secretaries on the home and fourteen on the foreign field, part of a floor in an office building, 75 x 100 feet, was rented at 3 West 29th Street. Then the whole floor, and later portions of two others, were gradu- ally secured. During an occupation of nine years the lease was renewed thrice, each time by the payment of an advance in rent. The third lease was to expire May 1, 1908. Removal to a building secured and owned by the Committee seemed so urgent that in September, 1906, in consultation with Secretaries Mott and Hicks, it was agreed between us that an immediate eflfort to- ward securing the desired building was so necessary that my going to Japan within the next few months to attend the meeting of the World's Student Christian Federation must depend upon our success in securing such a building. The Site Discussed and Secured From the beginning, for twenty-six years, the Committee's offices had been located in or near the old Twenty-third Street building. But the Committee members after many experiments •Pp. 253-4, 314-5. 456 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN finally had found it convenient to hold its meetings downtown in the neighborhood of the City Hall and Wall Street. After consulting with our fellow Secretaries, we agreed to begin our search for a building site in that part of the city. With Vice-Chairman Marling, as expert counsel and guide, what seemed a desirable corner property was found, and the price, 190,000, did not seem prohibitive. The deep and practical interest taken in our effort by another member of the Com- mittee, Cleveland H. Dodge, reminded me of the generous offer of a building made some years before by his honored father, the late William E. Dodge. This friend of the project, however, expressed a decided preference for a site in the neighborhood of the two great railroad terminals then in course of erection for the New York Central and Pennsylvania systems. In this neighborhood had been the location of the Committee's oflSce from the beginning. Again the Vice-Chairman was our expert guide and reported the four adjoining lots on East 27th and 28th Streets, upon which the Committee's building now stands. The cost would be $136,000. This selection proved acceptable to both the Committee and its staff. In eighteen months our lease would expire. Prompt action upon this choice was urgent. Upon further inquiry it appeared that by the pay- ment of $40,000 the four lots could be secured, with the burden of a mortgage of $96,000. Before a proposal to purchase was submitted to the Com- mittee I asked Mr. Dodge whether he would contribute this amount (|40,000) toward such a purchase. He was willing to take the matter into consideration, but alluded also — as in more than one previous interview he had done — to his growing interest in the work of the Young Women's Christian Associa- tion, with which his sister. Miss Grace Dodge, was most in- fluentially identified. Of the remarkable work Miss Dodge was accomplishing, with consummate wisdom, in uniting the two independent groups of these Associations I was fully aware, having been in more than one consultation with her on the subject, and I knew that within a few weeks of this time her efforts were to be crowned with success, and the National Board of the Young Women's Christian Associations would be created, as the agent of the united organizations. CONTINUED TWENTIETH CENTURY PROGRESS 457 In connection with this coming event Mr. Dodge raised the serious question whether the proposed building might be a joint undertaking and become the property of the two super- visory agencies. This led to a deliberation with himself and his sister in which we were confronted with the fact that both these agencies of young men and young women, in a protracted and trying experience of many years, had found that every at- tempt by any one of their Associations to unite with any kindred organization in the holding of permanent property had proved so unsatisfactory that it was an accepted policy with the Supervisory Committees of both the Young Men's and the Young Women's Associations, at every opportunity to counsel the local Associations strongly against such joint ownership. We knew of sad experiences in this line within our own brotherhood, and Miss Dodge assured me that in their organization the same experience had created similar disap- proval of any such joint ownership. On the other hand, in the prospect of a building of such dimensions as we were considering, I expressed the belief that there could be offered in it for a term of years, such accommo- dation for the National Board of the united young women's organization about to be formed, as would be acceptable to them and to us. It was in this consultation, that I also expressed to Miss Dodge the hope and expectation that their national organiza- tion in the development of its work, would eventually need and command a building of its own, larger than ours, in order that it might accommodate also their Secretarial Training School, which in their organization already was wisely and closely allied to their National Board, as I had hoped and planned many years before, that our first secretarial school might be related to our Committee. In point of fact, far sooner than I could then anticipate, this larger double build- ing was secured within five years, under her admirable and generous administration. In sympathy with these conclusions and in response to the request I made, Mr. Dodge— in an interview of which I cherish the most vivid recollection— replied that his mother, Mrs. William E. Dodge, desired to purchase and donate to the Com- mittee the site proposed for its building, and his sister ha^ 458 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN added |15,000 toward its equipment. That day was one of the happiest in my life. From what source could such a gift have brought to me so much satisfaction and have excited so much pleasure and gratitude! The plan of the building, and the money with which to erect one of adequate dimensions, now commanded attention. At first one of four or five stories seemed sufftcient. The fact that it could face on two streets would allow of an entrance on one for the International Committee, and on the other for that portion which was to be leased to the National Board of the Young Women's Christian Association. A first sketch of this plan was drawn in the office, in order to aid in present- ing to friends, who might help us, the size and uses of the building. At this time occurred the death of our friend, and the friend of some of our best friends, Eussell Sage. He had been par- ticularly interested in our work for railroad men and in the leading part Cornelius Vanderbilt had taken in it. Often in the Vanderbilt Railroad Association building he had at- tended the anniversary meeting, at which each year Vanderbilt presided. He had also expressed to me his good opinion of the work in such terms as reminded me of the terse expression used by another of its friends — ^William Thaw, of Pittsburgh, "It is a work wholly good for the men and for the roads they serve." Mrs. Sage was equally interested, and as an oflScer of the Woman's Auxiliary had been one of the donors to the Committee's Jubilee fund. . If now she were aware of the emergency at which we had arrived, and of the generous and timely cooperation of Mrs. Dodge, I believed she would help toward the erection of the building. When I called at her home, with one of my associ- ates, to present the subject, the condition of her health for- bade an interview, but she expressed a desire to learn of our errand in a written communication. Accordingly I wrote out my request, reporting what Mrs. Dodge and her daughter had oflfered, and that it was our plan to erect a building at a cost of $250,000 and to give separate accommodation on the Twenty-seventh Street side of the build- ing to the National Board of the Young Women's Christian Associations. CONTINUED TWENTIETH CENTURY PROGRESS 459 Mrs. Sage's first reply came through her attorney, my friend Mr. Eobert W. DeForest, who reported to Hicks and myself her favorable opinion of the project and especially of a pro- vision in the building for the National Board. We went care- fully over the plans and in a second interview with both Mr. DeForest and Mr. Dodge the whole undertaking was again thoroughly considered. A few days afterward (October 19, 1906), in her formal and favorable reply, Mrs. Sage very generously offered to erect the building, with the understanding that the title to the property would be vested in the International Committee. Her letter went on to say, "the new National Board of the Young Women's Christian Association is to have accommodation in the new building to the extent indicated on the plans shown to Mr. DeForest, or other accommodation satisfactory to Miss Grace H. Dodge or Mr. Cleveland H. Dodge and the National Board shall have the privilege of occupying that portion of the building so long as they may desire to do so without any rent other than their proportionate part of the cost of main- tenance." To guard against any possible misunderstanding, Hicks and I now raised with Mr. DeForest the question whether I should communicate to Mrs. Sage our negotiations with the National Board through its able chairman, stating the nature and the limits of the occupation by that Board to which we were agreeing. He replied that if Miss Dodge and her Board were satisfied, he would counsel us not to bring Mrs. Sage into the negotiation. The state of her health and other considerations made him sure that entering into such details would be con- trary to her preference. This led to further consultation with the National Board through its chairman. Should the occupancy by the Board be limited or permanent? Miss Dodge became satisfied that a permanent lien on the property would be a hindrance rather than a help, when the time was ripe for the Board to procure a building of their own for both the Board and the Training School. In my interview with her such a building in the future was deemed eventually indispensable. A few weeks afterward the union of the two sisterhoods of the young women's associations was consummated, in Decem- 460 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN ber, 1906. After the first meeting of the Board in the first week of that month I received from Miss Dodge ofScial word that she was authorized to arrange with the International Committee that the Board should occupy the space reserved for them on the second and third floors of the new building, free of rent for five years from May 1, 1908, on payment of a fair proportion of the cost of maintenance. Liberty to renew the lease was also guaranteed. Erection and Dedication of the Building Under the vigilant care of Mr. Marling and Secretaries Hicks and Shipp, the excellent features of the Committee's present building with its equipment were wrought out. In order that it should have seven stories instead of five, Mrs. Sage gener- ously increased her original gift to $350,000 and this facilitated the provision she desired to make of satisfactory offices for the National Board of Young Women's Christian Associations. These were furnished with a separate entrance on 27th Street. Adequate quarters also for the Student Volunteer Movement were provided in the building. Into the occupation of new and enlarged office space in 1888 we had entered in company with the Metropolitan Board and the New York State Committee, and ten years later, in 1898, we continued in company with the State Committee, but now our associates in the new building were the National Board and the Student Volunteer Movement. By these prompt and generous gifts of Mrs. Dodge and Mrs. Sage I was released to undertake the official errands in Asia and Europe which led to our second world journey, account of which is given in another chapter. The Bowne Historical Library, according to the wish of its custodian, founder, and donor, Jacob T. Bowne, was moved from Springfield to fireproof accommodation in the Committee's building. The following inscription engraved on a brass tablet was placed in the reception room. "This building is the gift of Mrs. Eussell Sage and is erected upon a site provided by Mrs. William E. Dodge." On May 30, 1908, the building was dedicated in a service led by Bishop William F. McDowell, and followed by a recep- CONTINUED TWENTIETH CENTURY PROGRESS 461 tion and a dinner given to members and Secretaries of the State and Provincial Committees — agencies which perform important part of the supervision necessary to the efficiency of Association work. In the absence of Dr. Warner, Mr. Mar- ling presided, and Dr. Lyman Abbott made the address. Later another commemorative service was held, on the reception by the Committee from Howard Williams of the very acceptable gift of a replica by the artist of the excellent marble bust of his honored father Sir George Williams. This was unveiled with appropriate ceremonies, and fitting addresses were made by Dr. Theodore L. Cuyler and Mr. James Stokes. It was the last of Dr. Cuyler's eloquent and memorable addresses in the promotion of this work in Christ's name among young men. Throughout his ministry of over half a century he had been in both word and deed an ardent friend of the Association. At the end of five years (1913), the National Board and the Secretarial Training School of the Young Women's Christian Associations, owing to the remarkable and generous leadership of its Chairman, Miss Dodge, became possessed of a much larger building property than ours and moved into their pres- ent building. Into this they welcomed for a time the Student Volunteer Movement. The space vacated by that movement was at once occupied by our Committee's growing staff, and already (1917) this entire building of seven stories is too small to accommodate that staff, enlarged by the work of the Na- tional War Work Council of 1917 among the millions of young men under arms on this and other continents. A removal in 1918 to larger quarters is unavoidable. International Conventions of 1907, 1910, and 1913 To the Conventions of 1907, 1910, and 1913 the Committee was able to report an increasingly helpful relation to State organizations. This culminated in the appointment in 1913 of Executive District Secretaries at Chicago, Denver, and Atlanta, who with their associates have steadily created a growing solidarity of sentiment and cooperation between the International and State Secretaries, and among their fellow International Secretaries. The way was prepared for such further progress in this direction as was achieved at the Cleve- 462 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN land Convention of 1916 under the new and stronger secretary- ship of Dr. Mott. Whether the Associations were continuing faithful in their observance of the evangelical church basis was a question raised at the Convention of 1907. So seriously was this pre- sented and discussed by some prominent Association leaders that the delegates appointed two commissions, one to investi- gate whether this impression was well founded and a second to consider whether any rephrasing of the definition contained in the test or basis was desirable. Both commissions reported to and were continued by the Convention of 1910. To the Con- vention of 1913, the first commission gave satisfactory assur- ance that any existing non-observance of the basis was limited to a small minority. The second commission brought to the Convention of 1910 only a report of progress, and to the Con- vention of 1913 no rephrasing of the definition contained in the basis, but a recommendation offering to any Association or Associations desiring it, an alternate to the definition. The delegates did not accept this alternate, and the basis remained in form and in force unaffected by the action of the three Con- ventions. By the Convention of 1907, however, to a class of confessing members of Student Associations was granted title to vote, but not to hold offlce. In the deliberations of the two commissions above referred to I was invited to take an active part, enjoying fellowship with their members, and in hearty sympathy with the con- clusion at which each arrived. In the action on the evangelical basis by the Convention of 1913 I was seriously disappointed, and voted with the large minority. But the following resolu- tion was heartily adopted without debate by this Convention : "The Young Men's Christian Association requires of its members or oflBcers no personal religious test nor subscription to any creed, but accepts as its active members those who are members in good standing of any evangelical church, regard- ing such church membership as entirely satisfactory evidence of eligibility to active membership in the Association." All three Conventions authorized the Committee to cooperate strongly with local and State agencies in developing the Sum- mer Schools. And the Convention of 1913 equally favored local Association Training Centers and also the Fellowship CONTINUED TWENTIETH CENTURY PROGRESS 463 Plan originated and fostered by Charles K. Ober. Each and all these secretarial recruiting and training agencies continue to be of increasing value. No part of the Committee's work more heartily enlisted the sympathy and effort of its General Secretary. To the Convention of 1910 General Secretaries Harry W. Stone, of Portland, Oregon, and Arn Allen, of Seattle, brought the proposal of an initiative and referendum measure as a method — additional to the convention method — of initiating and voting on measures relating to the brotherhood. It was a carefully framed measure, published beforehand by them, and widely circulated in Association Men. It had also been sent to every Association by mail, and at Toronto in quiet open conferences, both large and small, delegates had discussed, and in some features had modified it, so that when it was proposed on the last day the motion unanimously prevailed without any serious discussion. After participating in the preliminary con- sultations and conferences, I enjoyed the privilege of seconding the motion when it was presented by Secretary Stone. Of this new aid in legislation first use was made in con- nection with the important changes accomplished by the Con- vention of 1916 at Cleveland. Further references to this and other important action by the Conventions of 1913 and 1916 are given in another chapter. FOKTIETH YeAE AnNIVERSAKT December 1, 1909 A personal anniversary came into this period. On December 1, 1909, exactly forty years after the day when I began work as an employed oflScer of a Committee of seven members under the title "General Secretary and Editor," I was welcomed by the members of a Committee of sixty members and fifteen Trustees to a dinner, where I greatly enjoyed meeting my fellow-Secretaries and many other friends. Ex-Chairman Cephas Brainerd, Chairman Warner, and Chairman-to-be Marling were all heard from, besides the principal speaker of the occasion— Cleveland H. Dodge— in whose words I again heard and enjoyed the voice of his beloved father. CHAPTER XXII A SECOND WORLD JOURNEY Dec. 6, 1906-July 25, 1907 New York to China This second world journey was in many respects a striking contrast to the tour of 1902-3. It began with a special official errand in Eastern Asia, and was prolonged by other calls re- ceived en route from St. Petersburg and London, so that gradu- ally a trans-Pacific trip became a world tour. The original errand was tp attend, in company with John R. Mott, in Japan, China, and the Philippines, important conferences and meet- ings, both of our Associations and of the World's Student Christian Federation. An earnest call came en route from my fellow Secretary at St. Petersburg, Franklin Gaylord, to ex- tend our journey to Russia, and later, from the Committee, a call to London. Also incidentally an opportunity was greatly enjoyed with Mrs. Morse — who for many years had been an active member of the Women's Foreign Missionary Board of our Church — to attend at Shanghai the remarkable Centenary Commemoration of Foreign Missions in China and to visit some of the missionaries of our own and other churches. On the evening of December 6, 1906, we left New York and spent our first Sunday in New Orleans. En route to Seattle we attended at Pacific Grove the Stu- dents' Conference of the Pacific coast, under the leadership of International Secretaries. There our old friend Secretary Henry J. McCoy, of the San Francisco Association, joined us and a day was spent with him in that city. It was eight months after the earthquake and fire, but the scene was still one of unspeakable desolation. With the architect we went over plans for the new Association building, the fund for the erection of which had been procured at New York earlier in the year. The following week was passed in Portland in the cheering 464 A SECOND WORLD JOURNEY 466 company of Secretary Harry Stone and his associates, in the midst of a work for young men which gives to that Association rank among the foremost in the world brotherhood. At Seattle we arrived only just in time to join Mott on our steamer, the Minnesota. In her and her sister ship the Dakota we took peculiar in- terest, for in the ship-yard at New London we had watched the building of both these great steamers, which were the largest, vessels then upon the Pacific. While we were crossing the ocean the Dakota was wrecked on the coast of Japan, and as we neared Yokohama and passed the scene of the disaster, the top of her smokestack could be seen above the surface of- the sea. With Secretary Mott in Japan, Korea, and Manila In Yokohama, January 23rd, all our Secretaries in Japan met us, and with them the entire Association work in that country was reviewed. In a swift, brief trip to Seoul the Asso- ciation building project in that city was promoted, and evan- gelistic meetings of extraordinary interest were held. The last Emperor of Korea was then nominally on the throne, and an interview with him, granted to Mott and myself, was held in the presence of the Japanese Resident, who was the ruling power behind the thyone. The. interview was an additional expression from the government of an interest and cooperation in the work of the Association, which gave encouragement to workers and friends in Korea. On our way to Manila, while the vessel paused for a few hours at Shanghai, the Secretaries in that city improved the opportunity for a brief conference in the cabin of the steamer. At Manila we entered at once on a strenuous building fund campaign, attending meetings and conferences with our Sec- retaries and friends. Meetings called for 6:30 a. m. did not interfere with other meetings continuing into the small hours of the following nights! Four days passed swiftly in a suc- cessful campaign for the building fund ; in meeting Secretaries of the Army and Navy Work, missionaries and their families and American teachers in school; and in stimulating contact with the strong sanitary and governmental work which Amer- ican occupation had brought to this city, and to the group of islands of which it is the capital. 466 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN With Missionaries and Association Workers in China On our return to China in Canton, a memorable day with Dr. A. A. Fulton and his wife gave us vivid impressions both of the Presbyterian Mission work and also of the populous, crowded, quaint, dirty, and noisy ancient city. On our return to Shanghai, while important errands called Secretaries Mott and Brockman to Peking and Tientsin, Mrs. Morse and I had opportunity to give some time to her errand as a member of the Presbyterian Foreign Board. After a visit to the missions and missionary friends in the old city of Mngpo, where we were shown "the most ancient Christian Church in China," we took the steamer for Tsingtao, then a German colony and the port of the Province of Shantung. We entered that most populous province of China — the Province of Confucius — by the German Kailroad. At three stations, Wei Hsien, Tsinan-fu, and Tsingchau-fu, we were hospitably enter- tained by our missionary friends and gained new strong and hopeful impressions of their remarkable work. The National Conference of the Chinese Associations now recalled us to Shanghai, where we arrived for a third time on this tour, and met Mott, Brockman, other fellow Secre- taries on our foreign staff, and some 200 Chinese delegates. It was a very representative meeting. Delegates from one of the remote provinces required more time to reach the Confer- ence than was needed by us to go direct from New York to Shanghai. As a senior delegate I was asked to treat the theme: "What is fundamental in the principles and work of the Young Men's Christian Association?" In a letter written at this time it is recorded that "a very hearty Chinese response was made to very American ideas of what is primary in the conduct of our work among young men. We are told that in China old age is not a handicap but an advantage, and my forty and more years of connection with the work seem to give me such a standing that we are seriously considering whether — when old age really overtakes us — China is not the place to spend the remainder of our lives!" Another item from this letter may also be quoted: "Two of the wealthy Chinese Christians in the city gave a A SECOND WORLD JOURNEY 467 dinner to some of the delegates, at one of the chief restaurants, and all were served in Chinese fashion. Each course consisted of a single dish in the center of each table, surrounded by many side dishes. Twelve courses, with about fifty side dishes, were served, and included shark fins; birds' nest soup; mandarin fish; rice wet; cuttle-fish soup; the 'eight previous pudding,' composed of eight ingredients ; rice dry ; and other items too numerous to mention." In Japan a Second Time Out of the Beaten Track of Travel Our first appointment in Japan was at Yokohama. But on our way we had an amusing and bewildering experience in venturing beyond "the beaten track of travel," without the language or a guide. Mrs. Morse was very anxious to visit her friend Miss Bige- low, who for twenty years had been quietly teaching and en- larging a school for girls at Yamaguchi, a small town, situated eight miles from the railroad, to which very few visitors from home come. We had not had time to send word of our com- ing. As we left our train and saw it disappear, we turned to the non-English speaking station agent for instruction. For about an hour, in the use of signs and gestures, we wrestled with him, the policeman, the telegraph operator, rickshaw men eager for a job, and a steadily increasing crowd of spectators. We were engaged in an effort to convince them that all we desired was to secure two rickshaws to take us to Yamaguchi. As we were coming to the conviction that we must give up defeated and wait for the next train for Tokyo, a man who had been vigilantly watching us stepped out of the crowd, and offered us a pencil and paper. On this I wrote what we wanted, and returned it to him. After slowly and carefully spelling out each word, he called two rickshaws, helped us in, gave directions, and away we went. The after- noon was beautiful, and the ride of seven or eight miles into the country was restful, particularly as we felt all our troubles were behind us. But never were expectations and hopes more without foundation ! On reaching Yamaguchi, our conveyances stopped in front of a rambling building. At the door a smiling bowing group met us, but no Miss Bigelow. We said her name in all tones and with every emphasis, but not in more 468 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN than one language, and they continued to smile and invite us into what we afterward learned was a Japanese inn. Then Mrs. Morse was asked to remove her shoes and go upstairs, but I was forbidden to follow. Not finding anyone and growing desperate, she put her head out of the window and called out Miss Bigelow's name till a crowd gathered in the court below. Then in despair she came downstairs, just as I had decided to insist on going up to look for her. Meanwhile a crowd had been collecting at the entrance. We were now seven miles from the railroad. It was late in the afternoon and we were indeed bewildered. Again a helper emerged from the crowd, a young man who had just come up on a bicycle. In very good English he asked if he could help us. To our first question he replied : "I know Miss Bigelow, and will take you to her. I was a pupil in her Sun- day school class." Our visit — when at last we had arrived — was so delightful it more than repaid us for any anxiety we had had, and the Mission seemed pleased that we had taken so much trouble to find them in a location so far from the tourist route. We promised one another that on our next visit to Japan we would plan to emphasize visiting away from the railway route. Significant Small Gatherings Our ofiflcial errand in Japan now summoned us from Yama- guchi, 650 miles away, along the beautiful Inland Sea and through some of the loveliest valleys of Japan, to Yokohama, where Mott was meeting in conference with the National Sec- retaries of India, China, and Japan — an interesting group of six International Secretaries, graduates of Harvard and Yale, Vanderbilt and California Universities — all younger men than Mott, but seasoned in the work. For three days we enjoyed rare and stimulating conference on problems and prospects, men and methods. We were optimists, for were we not all intent on spreading "Good News" and were not doors of rarest opportunity swinging open before us, with the offer of divine, all-powerful cooperation? The meeting of the Federation Committee called us to Nikko for two days (April 1 and 2). This Governing Committee of the Federation began its sessions on its special car going to A SECOND WORLD JOURNEY 469 and returning from this mountain resort. It was five hours by rail from Yokohama and 2,000 feet above the sea— a marvel in the charm of its natural scenery and in its possession of the highest forms of Japanese art. For us it proved to be also a marvel of wintry beauty, for we left Tokyo at 4 :30 a. m. in a dark downpour of rain, but found the mountains, trees, and mausoleums of Nikko covered with snow. There seemed to be truth in the Japanese proverb : "Do not use the word magnifi- cent until you see Nikko!" Its magnificence in art is due to its having been selected three centuries ago as the site of the tomb and mausoleum of leyasu, the Napoleon of Japan, who lived and triumphed, even unto the end of his reign and life, two hundred years before the less fortunate Emperor of France closed his career at Waterloo and St. Helena! The tomb of the Japanese conqueror is erected, not in any structure of man's building such as is found in Paris, near the Seine, but under the open sky, high up on the mountain Side, where it is enclosed and overshadowed by a temple forest of loftiest pine trees. It is reached by a long and slow ascent through a succession of temples, in which Japanese art seems to have exhausted itself in the expression of pure and beauti- ful forms. In the Nikko Hotel at the Federation Committee meeting, it was reported that six years earlier, before the Kusso-Japa- nese war, when we voted to hold the conference in Tokyo, and three years before, during that war, when we repeated that vote, it was with the expectation that the meeting might prove less representative than its predecessors, but when the roll was called we found that ten of the eleven Student Movements were represented, a larger number then ever before. Important ac- tion was taken admitting national women's student organiza- tions from America, Britain, and Australia, and the door was also opened to others from other countries. Oxford University was selected as the place for holding the Conference of 1909. Federation Conference at Tokyo, April 3-6 During the four days following our meeting at Nikko, the Federation Conference met at Tokyo in the Young Men's Chris- tian Association building of that city. Of the six hundred delegates present the largest groups came from Japan, China, 470 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Korea, and India. The two languages of the proceedings were Japanese and English. For the first time a language of the Orient was one of the oflBcial dialects of the Conference. Be- yond expectation it proved to be the largest, the most repre- sentative, scholarly, and evangelistic of the seven Conferences thus far held. Two of Japan's leading statesmen entertained the entire Conference — Count Okuma and Baron Goto. Its most significant feature was the well planned series of widely extended evangelistic meetings among students. They began in Tokyo during the Conference, among the thousands of Japa- nese students and the 15,000 Chinese and Korean students then in that city. After the Conference the delegates, with well chosen Japanese interpreters, carried effective messages to student centers throughout the Empire. Two pleasant social events during the sessions are worthy of mention : a luncheon given by a member of the International Committee, the late S. W. Woodward, of Washington, to all International Secretaries present, and their wives; and a dinner given by a member of our Presbyterian Foreign Mission Board, the late L. H. Severance, to all missionaries and their wives. To this the host, who had been our guest at luncheon, invited our Association group also. It was a rare company of over 200 fellow workers, who can never forget that evening of gracious fellowship. At Kyoto — Japan's ancient capital — after the Conference, ground was broken with interesting ceremonies for a new Asso- ciation building. Beyond any of its predecessors this meeting of the Student Federation was intimately connected and identified with the Young Men's Christian Association. The Student Movements of Japan, China, and India, as well as those of North America, are part of the Association Movement in these countries, for young men and women of all classes. The meetings were held in an Association building, and most of the notices and reports in the local press, so we were told, did not discriminate between the Federation and the Associa- tion Movement. At the Okayama Orphanage we spent a memorable evening and morning with the American missionary Eev. J. H. Pettee, and the founder of the orphanage, J. Ishii, the George Muller of Japan. Twenty years before this, during the visit of George A SECOND WORLD JOURNEY 471 Miiller to Japan, Mr. Ishii was a medical student, and was deeply moved to follow Mtiller's example. He began with one boy. During the first ten years, he told me, his human help came from friends in America. Then the work became better known and in 1903 he received a decoration from the Emperor. At the open-air morning prayer service which we attended, over 900 orphan children were present — most of them from famine districts. Mr. Ishii was a quiet, modest, most interest- ing and useful Christian philanthropist. While at Nagasaki, before taking our steamer, we attended the impressive opening session of a conference called in the interest of uniting in one all churches in Japan bearing the Methodist name. The session closed with a communion service led by an old friend — Bishop Foss — one of the church leaders actively promoting this movement toward church unity and union. China Centenary Conference From Japan, after the Conference, Mott returned home, and for the fifth time on this tour — and every time without a storm —we crossed the Yellow Sea, now to attend with a thousand missionaries and other delegates the memorable China Cen- tenary Conference. Its meeting place was Martyrs' Memorial Hall, in the new Association building. This Hall was named and the cost of it defrayed by a fund set apart to create a memorial of all the martyrs, native as well as foreign, who lost their lives in the persecutions which accompanied the Boxer uprisings. There was something very honoring to the Association, in the disposition of the missionaries and Christians of China to place in the home and building of a work so young as ours an impressive memorial of these revered martyrs of our faith, part of the harvest of a century of missionary fidelity. It was a great privilege to sit for ten days in this elect confer- ence, and hear a review, carefully prepared by genuine experts, of the entire field of missionary effort in China accompanied by thoughtful discussions from these experts. One fourth of the 4 000 missionaries in China were present. They repre- sented between 50 and 60 different church agencies, bearmg almost as many church names. The principal departments 472 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN of missionary work were treated thoughtfully, and with an outlook toward the betterment and extension of each. The central theme was "The Church of Christ in China." Consideration of it was begun on the first day and was not satisfactorily completed in the sessions allotted to it. Its treatment was prolonged for several days in such fragments of time as were obtainable. A principal query and problem suggested was "What is to be the attitude of this Church in China toward those differences which exist between the many denominations and agencies represented in this Conference?" Great solicitude was felt, apparently greater than in regard to any other theme, that all should agree in the reply to that question. So a special committee was appointed on the first day to bring in a special report. Toward the close of the sessions the question was finally put : "Shall the unity of the Church of Christ in China be unaffected and unvexed by these differences?" The affirmative response was strong and posi- tive. The call for the dissent of any delegate was followed by some moments of a growing silence that could be felt. Then the whole audience rose and sang: "Praise God from whom all blessings flow." In front of them as they sang, shone the motto of the conference, in what seemed to be letters of light, above the brightness of the sun— -Z7t Unum Sint — "That they may be one !" To me this seemed the most impressive moment of the ten days. But these delegates did not stop with the singing of the doxology. A committee was appointed with this unanimous vote of the conference behind it. Instructions were given to it to promote the unity desired. This committee was a wholly advisory agency. I had been familiar with a vigorous agency of this kind for many years. It was also emphatically declared to be without authority, and the conference could not be called upon to supply money for any expense incurred by the committee. These notes of caution had to me a very familiar sound, and I felt exceed- ingly hopeful that the future of this committee, and of the work of unity and cooperation for which it stood, would be crowned with successful achievement. This action of the conference called for a Provincial Council in each Province of China, and then for representatives of all these Councils to unite in establishing a National Federal A SECOND WORLD JOURNEY 473 Council. It was a good beginning and it strengthened the sentiment of unity, but for an effective organization a quali- fied employed officer of course was needed. Six years later, in 1913, the General Secretary of the Continuation Committee of the Edinburgh Decennial Conference (1910) — John R. Mott — after holding a series of Provincial Conferences, which also created a National Conference, was able to accomplish the appointment of a Continuation Committee of China, with a qualified employed offlcer, and the sentiment of unity is gaining strong expression in interdenominational cooperation. Many of the missionaries came from far away inland sta- tions, and some were in native dress. The delightful spirit of fellowship and unity prevailing also found fine expression in the following significant action ; "Resolved, that we recognize in the students of the Chinese government schools and colleges throughout the Empire a field for Christian effort of great importance, and that inas- much as we have in the Young Men's Christian Association an agency of the Church especially adapted to carry on work among these students, we recommend the enlargement of its forces to more adequately meet this need." A Women's Missionary Luncheon During these days of rare fellowship in Shanghai, Mrs. Morse was eager to meet as many women missionaries as pos- sible from her own and other churches, including also the wives of our Secretaries and other friends. The opportunity was a very unusual one and to improve it she concluded to invite all she could to a luncheon in the Astor Hotel. Not being able to secure enough satisfactory addresses in the short time at her disposal, she began inviting all whom she met and sent verbal invitations by several friends. Of course this method left her until the hour of the meeting in uncertainty as to the number of her guests. The hotel manager proved equal to the emergency, entering into the spirit of the enter- tainment, and at the time appointed, when double the number expected appeared, with his nimble Chinese waiters he built out the table now from one side and then from another until every guest was comfortably seated and each one was provided with a menu. I was honored by an invitation and though only a man and 474 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN the only man present, was able both to hear and to make myself heard. It was a great pleasure to become acquainted with many interesting workers whom I had often heard spoken of but never before had met. The last period of our stay in Shanghai was spent in the homes of our Secretaries, where we became acquainted with the children and enjoyed the family life and companionship of our fellow workers as their privileged guests. An Interesting Dinner Meeting To this centenary meeting from many countries had come among the visitors many laymen leaders and Secretaries of our Associations. On the evening before the conference opened I attended in the Astor Hotel a remarkable dinner meeting. Some fifty guests came together at the invitation of a group of Chinese gentlemen actively identified with our Association work in their country. Among the guests were many Associa- tion friends whom I had met in England, France, Germany, and other countries. We listened to fine addresses in the Eng- lish language from several of our hosts, who were graduates of the Universities of Virginia, Cornell, Yale, and a Chinese Christian college. Their theme was the influence from the Occident that had come to the Orient — especially to their own country. In succession they spoke gratefully of the messages received concerning education, philanthropy, the art of heal- ing, and the Christian religion. The last speaker was an editor of eminence. He spoke from the political point of view. As a patriot he alluded with frankness to the damage suffered by China from the Occident by wars, the opium traffic, unjustly enforced concessions of territory, and American ex- clusion acts. Then, weighing in the scale of patriotic judgment all these ills against the good and benefit received during a century from the Protestant missionary, he assured us, on behalf of the men of intelligence and education who with him were our hosts, that in their opinion as patriots the good thus received greatly outweighed the ills that had been enumerated. After bidding farewell to our hosts, as we walked away one of the American laymen present, S. W. Woodward, said to me: "If I had come from our National Capital by direct journey to Shanghai, arriving only in time to attend this meet- A SECOND WORLD JOURNEY 475 ing, and if it were necessary tomorrow to take my steamer home, what I have heard tonight would amply repay me for the journey, and its cost in time and money." Westward from Shanghai to London Early in this journey there had come from Franklin Gaylord, our Secretary in St. Petersburg, urgent request that I would hold myself in readiness to return home if necessary by way of Siberia and St. Petersburg. At Tokyo during the Confer- ence a cablegram from him notified me that the call for my coming had been confirmed and the imperial authorities had granted railroad passes for myself and Mrs. Morse and four other delegates over the Siberian road. I replied favorably and the passes were on their way to Shanghai. Toward the close of the Centenary Conference, the Com- mittee cabled from New York their request that I would return by way of London and attend there with Vice-Chairman Mar- ling the biennial meeting of the World's Committee. Meanwhile, during the Conference, cablegrams from home revealed a family emergency that called for Mrs. Morse's speedier return by the shorter Pacific route and I secured pas- sage for her on the steamer Minnesota, on which she would have pleasant companionship with missionaries and other friends, including a large party from the East, who had been in at- tendance upon the Conference. Shanghai to St. Petersburg The journey from Shanghai to St. Petersburg occupied more than a month (May 7 to June 25) and was full of interesting incident. Up the mighty Yangtse river, 600 miles on a Japa- nese steamer to Hankow — the Chicago of Central China — and 300 miles further by another steamer brought us toChangsha, a capital city whither I was accompanying Professor and Mrs. Harlan P. Beach to the Yale, or Yali, collegiate school, begun only a year before, and growing steadily toward a college and university. New Yale in old China we found receiving a better start than was given to Old Yale in the new world two hun- dred years ago! Beyond Changsha, the outpost of Presbyterian missions in 476 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN China, Siangtan, was also visited. From Hankow to Paoting-fu and Peking the rail journey of 800 miles gives passing glimpses of inland China, fertile and barren, watered and parched. At Paoting-fu a day was spent with friends in the presence of memorials of the martyrs of 1900, side by side with tokens of the rapid recovery of the Church in China from her sudden and cruel persecution. Five days in Peking and five days in its port city, Tientsin — the most improved modern city I saw in China — were spent with Secretary Gailey and his associates, in touch with good Association work and workers and with bright promise of more adequate building equipment in the near future. Here to a group of Chinese telegraphers by special request I gave some reminiscences of the inventor of the electro-magnetic telegraph. On the way to Chefoo and its fine harbor I enjoyed the com- pany of an International Secretary under appointment to spend the summer in Association work among the sailors of our Asiatic fleet, which frequents this harbor each summer season. Part of my errand in Chefoo was to confer with the local committee there in charge of this work. The steamer that was taken from Tientsin bore a Chinese name signifying "The way to Heaven," and the little boat plying between Chefoo and Dairen had a name meaning "Eesurrection." Both conveyed us safely to our destination ! From Dairen a visit to Port Arthur brought me in touch with our Association work in the Japanese Army, and with the Secretaries in charge of this work in both places. One of them accompanied me to 203 Metre Hill and to the ruins of the vast Russian fortifications built about the harbor. At Dairen Secretary Hibbard, who organized and led the Army Work in Manchuria, joined me. The Japanese railroad au- thorities granted a pass over the Manchurian road. The Amer- ican consul insisted, and by telegram arranged that I should be the guest over Sunday at Mukden, of his friend the Consul in that city, Willard D. Straight. While enjoying his hos- pitality it was pleasant to discover in my host a family friend, who had been cherishing the expectation that two of our nieces, who were old friends of his, would be coming with me and their father on this tour, an expectation in which all con- cerned had been disappointed. A SECOND WORLD JOURNEY 477 The Japanese Eailway changes to the Siberian between Mukden and Harbin, and on one of the three weekly express trains between Vladivostok and Moscow, ten days of travel were spent full of changing scenes, as we passed through many cities, and almost as many varieties of forest, plain, and moun- tain. In this longest railroad journey of my life, I was greatly favored with the company of two valued friends and fellow- delegates at Tokyo — the late lamented and beloved President of the Paris Association, Count Jacques de Pourtales, and a friend of many more years, Em. Sautter, then our National Secretary of France, and now (1917) the General Secretary of the World's Committee. In Moscow Secretary Gaylord met me, and together we made what was to both of us a first visit to that ancient city. In St. Petersburg, during a visit of eight days, as a guest in his home, and in the Association, or Mayak, building, I became acquainted with the good work which for nearly nine years he and his wife most unselfishly had been accomplishing among the young men of that city. They seemed to me, as foreign missionaries, more isolated than any other friends and fellow workers I had met on the foreign field. An Interview with the Czar It was during the last two days of this visit that Gaylord's principal object in planning and urging it was accomplished. This object was the bringing of the work and its merits to the immediate personal attention of the Czar in an interview, requested for me as the General Secretary of our International Committee, en route home from the World's Conference at Tokyo. In the grant of railway passes part of the request already had been complied with. From the Empress Dowager and the younger brother of the Czar, the Grand Duke Michael, also had come suggestion of a second interview. On the day before I was expecting to leave the city an appointment was received for an interview with his Majesty at the Palace of Peterhof. This proved to be a very informal, colloquial audience accorded to the President of the Association, Senator Mestchaninoff, Secretary Gaylord, and myself. His opening inquiry concerning the time of my coming to the city gave me opportunity to thank him for the courtesy 478 MY LIFE WITH, YOUNG MEN he had extended to me over the Siberian Railway. His next inquiry related to our work, and the errand concerning it which had occasioned my visit to St. Petersburg. This opened the way to accomplish part of our object in seeking the inter- view. In hearing facts about the work of the American Asso- ciations and its extension by them to other countries, he ex- pressed surprise at this extension, especially to China and Japan, countries whence I had come to Eussia on my way to Berlin and London. In this connection I referred to Secretary Gaylord as our Metropolitan for St. Petersburg and Russia. Turning to the Secretary for information, he learned from him of the encouraging growth of the work and expressed surprise at the number of members — twelve hundred. Gaylord also re- ferred to the American Jubilee Convention at Boston in 1901 and the presence among the delegates from abroad of Father Vassilieflf, a priest of the Greek Church, who is an active mem- ber of the St. Petersburg Association and who took part in the sessions of that American Convention. At this fitting time I tendered to him the octavo volume we had brought, entitled "Jubilee of Work for Young Men," hand- somely bound and containing a full report of that Jubilee Con- vention, with a picture of the priest just mentioned. Its ac- ceptance was requested as a token of regard from the 400,000 members of the North American Associations, to be conveyed by him as a gift to his infant son, the Grand Duke Alexis Nikolaivitch. Taking the large volume in his hands, he remarked that the child was very young to receive such a gift. I expressed the hope and expectation that the boy would grow up to read and speak the English language as perfectly as his father, and become acquainted with what the book contained. "I will give it to the boy's mother to keep for him," he cordially responded. Gaylord spoke with gratitude of Her Majesty the Empress as the friend to whom we owed the founding, by James Stokes, of the Association, or Mayah, in St. Petersburg. "Yes," he re- sponded, "it was from her that I first heard of your work." Mr. Gaylord now presented a small book containing a report of the French Associations and alluded to his own connection for over six years with the Paris Association as its Secretary. This new emphasis upon the international dimensions of the RiCHAKD C. MOBSE, FRANKLIN GaYLOBD, AND SeNATOE Mestchaninoff, in St. Petersburg, 1907 A SECOND WORLD JOURNEY 479 work led the Emperor to inquire of me how I would define the object and nature of our work in our own and other nations. In response to his inquiry, I replied that its main object was to band together in each nation young men who were disposed and qualified to engage in unselfish, altruistic Christian effort on behalf of young men less favored than themselves. In doing this we believed we were getting together in each nation, part of what was best in the manhood of the nation. When he cordially assented to the excellence of this objec- tive, I added that when I was his age, the American Associa- tions were few and feeble, but I had lived to see them vigor- ously at work in most American cities, and we earnestly hoped — and one object of this interview was to express to him this hope — that in his life-time this would be true of an extension of this work from St. Petersburg to the young men of the many cities of Russia. This interview was followed on the part of the Emperor by a manifestation of increasing interest in the work and by a substantial contribution, ever since annually renewed, toward the support of the St. Petersburg Association. Nine years afterward, in 1916, liberty to extend the work to all the cities of Russia was granted by Imperial authority. Interviews with the Empress Dowager and Duke Michael Upon our return to St. Petersburg we found invitations from the Empress Dowager and the Grand Duke Michael. The next morning in response to these we sought a different railway station and were soon driving through the beautiful grounds of another palace — Gatchina — where we were ushered into a drawing room. Among others waiting for an audience, we were introduced to General Linievitch, who, during the recent Russo-Japanese war, succeeded General Kuropatkin in the com- mand of the Russian Asiatic Army. At Gatchina our first interview took place in the bachelor apartments in this palace of the younger son of her Majesty, the Grand Duke Michael, from whom yie received a cordial reception. He was especially interested in the story of the Physical Department of the Association and the new gym- nasium which was being added to its equipment and to the erection of which he was a generous contributor. 480 m¥ life with youNg men After this interview, as we entered the imperial reception room, we met near the door a lady of short stature, very simply dressed in black silk trimmed with lace of the same somber hue. She cordially shook hands with us, and asking in Rus- sian of the Senator whether we could use that language, she turned to me and made use of as excellent English as we had heard the day before from her son. There was both simplicity and cordiality in her manner. After inquiring about my coming to St. Petersburg, the Em- press was interested in the same information we had given to her son on the previous day, and we spoke gratefully of his reception of us, and of the value of the interest he had mani- fested, not alone to the work in Russia but elsewhere in other countries. She liked the idea and object of our work, and when I spoke of what Russian young men could do for their fellow young men, she referred in a tone of sadness to the present condition of the country. Under instruction as to what would be considered courteous and not unacceptable, I ven- tured to ask for a signed photograph of herself and His Majesty the Czar. This she graciously promised — a promise which was kept in due season upon my return home. We noticed that on one wrist the Empress wore a plain gold bracelet which riveted our attention, for we had heard the interesting story of its being placed there. In the last year of the life of her husband, the late Czar of Russia, they were in a store together, where she took a fancy to a plain bracelet and called his attention to it. At that time he had become aware that he had not long to live. On returning to the Palace, he sent a friend to buy the bracelet, and requested that after his death on her first "name's day" — namely, the anni- versary of the day when as an infant she had received her name and on each return of which he had always placed a gift beneath her pillow — this bracelet should be given her in the usual way. It is said that when she found it on her name's day morning she fainted, and on her recovery had the bracelet fastened upon her wrist in such a way that it could not be removed, and there it has ever since remained. We were then taken through the beautiful corridors and apartments of the palace to a room where luncheon was served to us, as on the previous day. A SECOND WORLD JOURNEY 481 World's Committee Meeting in London After these interviews I began my journey to London by way of Berlin, where a morning was spent with my friends, the late Baron von Eothkirch, who since the death of Count Bernstofif had been chosen President of the Ghristlicher Verein Junger Manner, and Christian Phildius, Secretary of the World's Com- mittee, with whom the journey was continued, as we were both on our way to attend in London the meeting of that Committee. This meeting was held in the building on Eussell Square, which for many years had been the home of Sir George Williams, and where I had often received a welcome from him. Now, as the generous gift of his family, this home had become the building and headquarters of the English National Council. Here for several days the World's Committee deliberated upon the work of the Committee and the program of the approach- ing World's Conference to be held the following year in Ger- many at Barmen Elberfeld. At the time of our Committee meeting, the Diamond Jubilee of the Evangelical Alliance was being commemorated in Lon- don. With its formation sixty-one years ago both my father and his brother Sidney were identified, the latter taking part in the organization at London in 1846, and I was deeply in- terested in attending some of the sessions of the Jubilee meeting. A Summary Review While in London, in response to an interviewer, I made the following mention in a summary way of the world tour I was completing: "Many times I have come to London. Thirteen of these visits were made on the way to attend either the World's Committee or the World's Conference of our Associa- tions. Heretofore I have always crossed the ever narrowing Atlantic ferry. This time the broad Pacific and three conti- nents were traversed by a route so circuitous and visits so repeated, by reason of Association errands, that the Yellow Sea was crossed five times and in all ten thousand miles of ocean, sea, and river and seventeen thousand miles overland have been travelled. Although it takes more time this trans- continental route is heartily recommended. It is less monoto- nous than the Atlantic journey. 482 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN On the eastern coast of Asia twenty-seven cities were visited, including the political and commercial capitals and the great port cities of Japan and China, of the Philippines, Korea, and Manchuria. In sixteen of these, including all the capital cities, twenty Secretaries of our International Committee were found — some of them still studying the language and all of them devoting their lives to work among young men. Already they had enlisted and trained an equal number of native fellow Secretaries. In eight other cities Secretaries like these men are importunately asked for. In four cities Association buildings are erected and occupied, three of them secured wholly by American money. But the largest, latest, and best, in the city of Shanghai, was secured by contributions both from abroad and from Chinese friends, one of whom, a Confucianist, when frankly informed that the great object of the work was to make young men genuine Chris- tians, replied: 'Yes! but I observe that when young men are made such Christians they are also made better men — there- fore I am a friend of your work.' The record of Association work in the Japanese Manchurian Army during the recent war has greatly contributed to give standing and secure support for this work among Japanese young men. The last of these cities visited was Mukden, the capital of Manchuria. From there an eleven days' journey overland of 5,000 miles and more brought me to Moscow and St. Petersburg, where I was entertained by an American Secretary, Franklin Gaylord. During nine laborious years he has accomplished so excellent a work among Russian young men that in the Palaces of Peterhof and Gatchina helpful interviews on its behalf were granted by his Majesty the Czar of Russia, his younger brother Duke Michael, and their mother the Empress Dowager. This progress of Association work in the Far East and the Russian Empire gives impulse to redoubled effort for the exten- sion of the rule and Kingdom of Christ among young men throughout the world." CHAPTER XXIII SUMMEE SCHOOLS AND PEKIODICALS The Summer Conferences and Schools The first Association agency to attempt educational use of the summer season was "The Western Secretarial Institute," later known as "The Institute and Training School of Young Men's Christian Associations," with headquarters at Chicago. Now (1917) it is "The Young Men's Christian Association Col- lege" at Chicago, with summer schools and conferences at Lake Geneva. This school was begun in 1884 in a camp at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, started by a group of Association Secre- taries, among whom Pioneer Secretary Robert Weidensall represented the International Committee and its staff. From the beginning its summer term has grown steadily in training efficiency. In 1886 at Mt. Hermon, Massachusetts, the first Student Summer Conference was held and ever since has been continued at Northfleld. Its object however, and that of its many Student Conference children,^ has been to train not employed officers but volunteer workers from the Student Associations. Out of these Student Conferences was developed, in the sum- mer of 1904, a triennial training conference for Student Asso- ciation Secretaries. A Beginning at Silver Bay At Silver Bay on Lake George, New York, another agency for training Association Secretaries was begun in the summer of 1904. At that time, on this beautiful spot, a large piece of hotel property was owned by a benevolent citizen and ardent friend of Christian work, Silas H. Paine. In 1901 Luther D. Wishard was pioneering a forward movement in foreign mis- sion work, and, with the cooperation of Mr. Paine, a conference in aid of this movement was held at the Silver Bay Hotel, and ' For mention of these children, see pp. 354, 370. 483 484 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Wishard became enthusiastic to secure this property for con- ferences of Christian workers. Mr. Paine sympathized with the proposal, regretting his inability to give the property to agencies which could make this desirable use of it. During the two following summers, with his cooperation, conferences were conducted not only by Wish- ard but by the Young People's Missionary Movement, and also by the Young Women's Christian Associations for both student and city delegates. To these conferences, in 1903, was added the first in which the International Committee and its staff began to take part. It was a summer conference of older Christian boys and workers with boys, and was called and led by a joint committee on which the Committees of the New England and Middle States, the Eastern Canadian Provinces, the faculty of the Springfield School — now a college — and the International Committee were represented. This was the beginning of an educational undertaking destined to be of the greatest value to the Association Move- ment. Under this informal committee the conferences of the two following years, 1903-4, proved so satisfactory that its members consulted with the other agencies making use of Sil- ver Bay, and with Mr. Paine, who had become desirous that the property should be acquired by those who would make perma- nent use of it for conferences in the interest of Christian work. Accordingly a corporation — The Silver Bay Association — was formed, with a charter to acquire the property. It was composed of members from the International and State Com- mittees and the other agencies concerned. A joint committee of the Young Men's Christian Association agencies using the property was known first as "The Lake George Committee" and is now "The Eastern Association School." To the Jubilee Convention at Buffalo in 1904 the Interna- tional Committee reported this educational undertaking and was authorized to promote it. An Eastern Association School at Silver Bay At Lake Geneva leaders in State and local work had de- veloped the Institute. At Silver Bay a similar State and local SUMMER SCHOOLS AND PERIODICALS 485 leadership was strongly desired and planned by the Interna- tional Committee. But, in point of fact, upon that Committee and its staff has rested the chief responsibility in the admin- istration of both the Silver Bay Corporation and the Eastern Association School. From its beginning the undertaking enlisted my heartiest sympathy, and at the outset I was able to lend a hand in securing what was needed to purchase the property of 1,500 acres, beautiful for situation on one of our most beautiful lakes. To one of the inquiring contributors at that time I replied: "Our object is both vocational and vacational. The promotion of either by itself seems worthy of the whole fund, while a combination of both more than doubles the benefit which would result from the attainment by itself of either object." Expectation on both these lines has been fulfilled. By its more rapid growth the Eastern School carried to the older one at Lake Geneva helpful suggestion, and both together stimu- lated the establishment of similar institutes at Lake Couchich- ing, Canada (1908) ; Estes Park, Colorado (1910) ; Blue Kidge, North Carolina (1912) ; and for Colored Secretaries at first on Chesapeake Bay (1908) and later (1915) at Harper's Ferry. Their growing educative influence upon the Association em- ployed officer of every class, and in every period of service, has gradually given them title to the name of Continuation Schools for the men of our Association vocation. Among the skilled workmen of Germany, this name is applied to schools for train- ing such workmen as long as they live and work, and vigilant attendance upon them no workmen of rank can afford to neglect. These secretarial schools give promise of a similar helpful relation to the men of the vocation they are created to serve and benefit. They have stimulated in fifty local Associations, the establishment by their General Secretaries of Training Centers which have become feeders to both the colleges and Summer Schools. Of this educational movement, the Fellow- ship Plan with its Life Work Conferences, originated by Charles K. Ober, is a strong cooperating agency. Attendance upon Summer Continuation Schools Attendance upon the schools revolutionized for me the use 486 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN of the summer season, for such attendance became an essential part of my annual oflScial program. It has also become one of the most interesting and stimulating parts of that program. From the universities, professors come to these schools to find a class of pupils differing in age, experience, and other respects, from the students they usually meet in their class-rooms, and in answer to inquiries, both professors and pupils declare that they become profoundly interested in one another. An- other class among the teachers is composed of men of sec- retarial experience in Association work. The students in these schools do not come only from the ranks of the younger Secre- taries. Speaking for myself, each summer I am to be found not only among those who teach, but equally among those who are learning in the lecture and class room. Even more benefit comes from other opportunities of fellowship with those who are teaching and those who are taught, with both the younger and older workers as we meet indoors and out of doors, at meals or in the time set apart for recreation and sport. It is a stimulating and educative experience. Together these schools constitute a fine contribution to vocational training. They are not a substitute for the colleges, which were started many years before them, but they are more than a supplement to those professional schools. In their intimate relations to Association leaders and to experienced Secretaries, they furnish a correc- tive of earlier instruction as well as a supplement to it. Beginning at Lake Couchiching in 1910, at Silver Bay in 1911, at Blue Ridge during its first session in 1912, and later at Lake Geneva, Estes Park, Chesapeake Bay, Harper's Perry, and Seabeck on the Pacific Coast, I have taught every year in Summer Schools, when absence abroad has not prevented and have greatly enjoyed rare fellowship in each and all of them. In Student Conferences at home and abroad the emphasis of benefit is received by the undergraduate volunteer workers ; the emphasis of benefit at these Summer Schools is received by Association employed ofiicers who are giving their lives to the work of their vocation. Leading men in other callings, including the ministry and the law, have made inquiry of me concerning these summer schools and when from observation and experience I have de- scribed their program, these inquirers invariably reply that SUMMER SCHOOLS AND PERIODICALS 487 such an agency would be of corresponding benefit to the voca- tions or professions to which they belong. A study of the entire group of our secretarial training agencies, including the two colleges, the more numerous and largely attended continuation schools and training centers, the Fellowship Plan, and the much older Secretarial Bureau and Employed Officers' Conference leads one to the conviction that this group constitutes probably the most valuable asset possessed by the Association Movement. Periodicals ob^ the North American Associations Quarterly and Association Monthly Almost from the beginning of the Association Movement on this continent, periodicals were issued under the auspices of the International Convention. Soon after its location in New York in 1866, the International Committee issued a Quarterly, edited by its members. This periodical was superseded by a monthly paper, of which for two years (1870-71) I was editor and publisher and advertis- ing agent. From this beginning, and throughout my connec- tion with the Committee, I have been profoundly interested in helping to secure for the Association brotherhood and its work, a self-supporting periodical of wide circulation and influence. Contrary to plan and expectation, the Association Monthly was discontinued fourteen months after I had resigned as editor and had become wholly absorbed in the General Secre- taryship. But the abiding interest of both Committee and General Secretary in a periodical for the Associations was not discontinued at that time (April, 1873). For a year or more the publishers of the Illustrated Chris- tian Weekly, then issued by the American Tract Society, and edited by Dr. Lyman Abbott, agreed with the Committee to devote several columns each week to items of Association news, the material for which was furnished directly by the Associa- tions, or from the International office, through the General Secretary. In 1874 the New York Evening Mail joined the Christian Weekly in receiving and publishing these items of news, espe- cially in its weekly edition. To the Convention of 1875, the Committee's report suggested that "to the great advantage of 488 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN every Association, it could employ the services of a competent person to devote Ms whole time to the supply of fresh and interesting Association intelligence to leading newspapers all over the country." But the money for such a news agent was not obtained, and the supply of items from the Committee's office to the papers named was continued. The Watchman This did not prove a satisfactory substitute for a brotherhood periodical. Many local Associations, then as now, published bulletins. Among these was The Watchman, published by the Chicago Association, and edited by its Secretary, W. W. Van Arsdale, who had first come to the attention of the Interna- tional Convention in 1874, at its meeting in Dayton, Ohio. He was then in charge of a railroad reading-room which had been opened under Association management in the Kock Island Sta- tion in Chicago. At the invitation of the Committee he gave to that Convention an account of Association work among railroad men, then in its infancy, the first organization having been formed only two years before in Cleveland. Shortly after this he became General Secretary of the Chicago Association, and issued a bulletin containing news and notices of a local character. Gradually as he broadened the scope of the news reported, and the themes treated, hearty cooperation was given to him from the International office, and by his fellow Sec- retaries in the Secretaries' Conference, where the claims and merits of The Watchvfvan and its editor were heartily ap- preciated. In the Committee's Report to the Convention of 1877, after the usual allusion to the Christian Weekly, and the New York Mail, mention was made of The Watchman, under the manage- ment of W. W. Van Arsdale. "It is a weekly paper, wholly occupied with intelligence about Associations, and what tends to promote their best welfare. . . . The circulation of it among our members would be a substantial benefit to the cause." Convention after Convention received and responded approvingly to the Committee's commendation of the Chicago paper: "Not as an official organ, but simply as a medium of communication between all who are active in the Conventions, and for the distribution of news and purposes of discussion. SUMMER SCHOOLS AND PERIODICALS 489 it merits and should receive the hearty cooperation of every person interested in the purposes of the Associations." This continued emphasis was due not only to the excellence of the periodical, but also to the strong conviction felt by Chairman, members, and General Secretary, that it would be of great advantage to the Association Movement if its representative periodical, with a growing circulation and influence, could be successfully created and circulated from Chicago rather than from New York. Such strong unifying influence from the capi- tal city of the Central West, cooperating with kindred unifying influences from the Committee in New York, would form a bet- ter and stronger unity than could be secured by attempting again to issue the periodical from the Committee's ofiQce. Our experience with the Association Monthly, 1870-73, confirmed us in this conviction, and every Convention of the period ap- proved this policy. The Secretaries' Conference strongly cooperated, and gave to the editor, as one of its valued fellow members, every en- couragement. He was stronger as an editor than as a business manager, and for a time, at the close of each fiscal year, Secre- tary Thomas K. Cree from our office spent several days in Chicago, going over the books of The Watchman, and giving wise counsel concerning its business management. On his return he reported whatever deficit existed, and from among the members of the Secretaries' Association, by effort from our office, the balance that was needed to close the fiscal year of the paper without debt was secured. Sometimes the largest single contribution that McBurney and I made to the Associa- tion work of the year, was cheerfully given in this direction, in sanguine endeavor to accomplish what we believed to be an indispensable agency of the work, and located where it could exert its influence most advantageously for the whole brother- hood. Great was our disappointment when year after year wit- nessed failure to secure the circulation and management that would place it on a self-supporting basis. But the paper was useful and helpful. Abounding was the testimony to this effect at the Conventions and among the Secretaries. There are veteran workers who today cherish grateful recollection of its good influence upon themselves and others, 490 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN In 1878 A. T. Hemingway became General Secretary of the Chicago Association, and Van Arsdale gave himself entirely to The Watchman, receiving cordial support from the new Secretary in Chicago, and continuing a valued member of the Secretaries' Conference. State Secretary Taggart, of Pennsyl- vania, who had been an acceptable contributor to the paper, was in 1888 secured by Van Arsdale as associate editor, and the friends of the undertaking were hopeful of substantial prog- ress toward self-support. The Young Men's Era In 1888, L. Wilbur Messer became General Secretary in Chicago. With his vigorous cooperation, a new departure was attempted. The name of the paper was changed. It became The Young Men's Era, and The Young Men's Era Co. was formed. Then Henry F. Williams, International Railroad Sec- retary, was induced to become editor, and to this end resigned his secretaryship. This arrangement was reported to the next Secretaries' Conference, and the strong sympathy of its members was enlisted in this new departure. At this time McBurney and I made a contribution larger than any we had hitherto made for this purpose, for we thought the time had now surely arrived when the success of an undertaking, which we believed to be of first importance, was to be achieved. Our faith was strengthened by the knowledge that a stronger help and support than we could possibly command were insured in the generous, personal interest of Cyrus H. McCormick. His father and family had long experience in establishing and sus- taining in Chicago a leading religious periodical — then The Interior, and now known as The Continent. In enlisting this cooperation ultimate success seemed assured, but again we were disappointed ! When Henry Williams in 1893 retired as editor, I said : "There must be something in the Association secretaryship which disqualifies a man for the work of a suc- cessful editor and publisher!" Men and Association Men in Chicago Consultation was now entered into in regard to a new editor, and attention was called to Frank W. Ober, a younger brother SUMMER SCHOOLS AND PERIODICALS 491 of International Secretary Charles K. Ober. He had made good as a Secretary at Albany, where a building of first rank had been secured during his term of office. He was now Secretary at Omaha and an excellent building had been obtained in that city also. He was editing a local Association Bulletin, called Men, which was attracting wide attention. Might not he prove to be the man for whom we had been searching? He was called, and in 1896 undertook to edit the paper, at first under the name of Men, but changed in 1898 to its present title, Association Men. More than once during this period, in consultation with Cyrus McCormick and Secretary Messer con- cerning the contribution which the former was willingly de- voting to this undertaking, I reported to him the opinion of his fellow members of the International Committee as to the value of the paper, and of the location of its management in Chicago. He was fully in sympathy with this, and continued his generous cooperation. Every Convention gave strong com- mendation to the paper, but self-support was still far from being secured. The work of Secretary Messer in Chicago was proving phe- nomenally successful, and the new central building had been erected and dedicated, but in consultation with me about the paper he confessed with painful regret, that this was the only Association undertaking of importance in Chicago in the suc- cess of which he was disappointed. Before the Convention of 1899, at Grand Rapids, in that busy, crowded year of the Spanish- American War, he joined me in New York for a thorough consultation with our Chairman and Executive Committee, concerning the next step to be taken in the conduct of the paper. In the autumn of 1897 it had seemed to the management to be wiser to cease its circulation as a weekly paper, and to issue it as a monthly magazine, and to this change the In- ternational Committee had cordially agreed, also to the editor's policy of placing increasing emphasis upon its principal aim : "to serve the officers and workers among the Association mem- bers, over 30,000 of whom were now serving as Directors and working committeemen." As a result of this full conference with the Chicago management, the Committee in its Report to the Convention of 1899 carefully cited the facts above named, 492 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN and added the following proposition, which had been worked out by Secretary Messer and myself, and approved by the Com- mittee: "The Young Men's Era Company, and the Chicago friends of the enterprise, who for so many years, and in spite of severe financial loss — almost exclusively borne by Cyrus H. McCormick — have furnished this paper to the Associations, have now united in a proposition to lease the paper to the International Committee, with the understanding that it shall be published in Chicago, as heretofore ; that the profits, if any, shall be divided equally, during the period of the lease, between the Era Company and the International Committee, and that this arrangement shall go into effect, only provided that a cir- culation among the Association members amounting to 10,000 copies at fifty cents each is pledged, before or by the Grand Kapids Convention of 1899. The Committee is willing to un- dertake this added responsibility upon terms to be agreed upon with the Era Company, if the Convention shall see fit to recom- mend it." This proposition was heartily authorized by the Convention. Frank Ober was continued in oflSce as editor, and for two years the magazine was published by the Committee from Chicago, and at the end of that period, in September, 1901, by authority of the Jubilee Convention of that year, the Committee purchased the paper from the Era Company for |12,400.00, pay- ing also to the publishers $2,230.00 for stock on hand and good will. This arrangement was consummated in spite of the fact that for the two years of its publication by the Committee, the deficit had amounted to over |6,500.00. Association Men in New York In the interest of economy of administration, the Committee was reluctantly compelled to remove the ofiSce of publication to its own headquarters in New York, and after three years the Committee reported to the Jubilee Convention of 1904, that while the magazine was growing in usefulness and value to the brotherhood in its work, it had been a heavy financial tax upon the treasury. In addition to the payments to the Era Company and to the publishers, the deficits met at the end of each year had increased. The total present obligation SUMMER SCHOOLS AND PERIODICALS 493 (March 31, 1904) to the Committee, on account of the paper, including the money for its purchase, amounted to $29,281.34. The loss sustained by the Committee during the brief life of the Association Monthly (1870-1873) had been insignificant as compared with this sum; yet in that instance and equally in this, the Committee were fully persuaded that the benefits received by the Associations were manifestly of such value as to justify this expenditure, and the risk of future deficits. The Committee therefore decided to continue the publication, but to keep in a fund by itself the sum total of cost and annual deficit, in the hope and expectation that ultimately principal and interest represented by this sum could be repaid to the Committee out of the earnings of the magazine. Thirteen years have now passed (1904-1917) and the maga- zine has steadily grown in merit and circulation under its capable editor, Frank W. Ober, and its business managers. In 1909 it began to close its fiscal year without a deficit, and ever since it has yielded a steadily increasing return, until in its seventeenth year with the Committee it seems securely on the road to the payment of its entire indebtedness — ^principal and interest. In the first year of its appointment in 1866, the Committee began the publication of a periodical as a quarterly. It was continued as a monthly until 1873, and then, for twenty-eight years, the Committee, its General Secretary and staff exerted themselves to sustain a periodical away from its office. After the end of that effort, for seventeen years, publication of a monthly was resumed by the Committee, and in the fiftieth year of its efforts to publish and circulate an Association periodical without financial loss, this desirable achievement seems to be within reach. The circulation in the closing months of 1917 has far exceeded 100,000 copies. After taking active part in this endeavor for the last forty- seven years I rejoice with exceeding joy in the success at last achieved, not only financially, but far more in the production of a periodical, in which an editor of fine capacity voices with growing strength the character-building message of the brother- hood, and a competent publisher gives excellence and eflSciency to the business management. An interesting chapter could also be written of consultation 494 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN and cooperation with different department Secretaries of the Committee as each has sought to edit and circulate a periodical needed for the efficiency of the work of his department. Throughout the brotherhood also a multitude and a great variety of local and state work bulletins have been issued, some of exceptional excellence. Among Editorial Secretaries might be named : George Warburton, Glen Shurtleflf, L. Wilbur Mes- ser, W. H. Whitford, President Doggett of the Springfield Col- lege and others, who have issued periodicals which command attention far beyond the locality or constituency each is created to serve. In this study of Association achievement in periodical litera- ture within the Movement, we discover what has been and is an agency decidedly helpful in promoting Association efSciency. CHAPTER XXIV NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS The Forming of a Canadian National Organization John S. Maclean, of Halifax, was the excellent President of the first International Convention I attended (1870). A promi- nent Christian merchant of that city, he was known in those early days as the Bishop of the sixty Associations of Nova Scotia, many of which he had founded. In my first tour of visitation as agent of the Committee I traversed his entire diocese, part of the time in the good company of this layman- bishop. A year later a second and longer tour in Canada ex- tended from Nova Scotia to London, Ontario, and to fourteen other cities and towns of the latter province, including Guelph, where a Provincial Convention was attended. The Toronto Secretary, Thomas J. Wilkie, was then the leader not only of the Association in his own city, but also of those throughout the Province, and the majority of these we visited together. In my report of that year to the Committee I find the fol- lowing statement: "Of the sixty-six cities large and small on this continent rejoicing in General Secretaries, ten, or nearly one sixth of the number, are in this Province. Clearly Ontario is in the van of the Association Movement in its Secretarial Department." This condition in the Province was due to the agency of the Toronto Secretary, Thomas J. Wilkie, and his capacity for training men for the secretarial office and work. . These two Canadian tours were, for me, the beginning of a companionship with fellow workers in Canada, on the sound foundation of which life-long international friendships were formed, and afterward strengthened in the sessions of conven- tions and of Secretaries' conferences, in the interchange of visits, and in the strenuous activities of the International Work. Such testimony to the reality and strength of "the interna- tional mind" and spirit resident in our Association Movement, 495 496 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN could be multiplied out of tlie experience of a multitude, on both sides of that unfortified and to us invisible national border line of four thousand miles. Beginning of International Fellowship The international name and bond began to be emphasized by the North American Associations in 1854 at Buffalo in their first Convention. Yet wider scope to this international fellow- ship was given a year later, at Paris, by the strong infiuence of the North American delegation in the first World's Confer- ence — an influence which steadily increased in succeeding World Conferences. Many years later, in their own Interna- tional Convention of 1889, delegates from both Canada and the United States officially undertook a union work of extension on the foreign field, and, by reason of this work in Near East and Far East, in Africa and South America, and also in Aus- tralasia and Europe, the word international in our North American Movement has taken on increasingly a world-wide significance. It is a precious possession. Title to it is worthy of conservation by an increasing emphasis on it at every op- portunity. Until 1867 Canada existed as a group of Provinces, and our annual meeting of delegates was known as "The Convention of the Young Men's Christian Associations of the United States and the British Provinces." In 1879 the name was changed to "International Convention of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciations of North America." In 1875 the Convention began to add members to the Committee who were non-resident in New York City and vicinity. Among the fifteen of this class, elected by that Convention, two were from the Dominion — John S. Maclean, of Halifax, and T. James Claxton, of Montreal. The bond of union was strengthened not only in Conventional ses- sions, but yet more in the annual meetings of the conference of all employed officers in both nations and by the creation for mutual financial benefit of an Insurance Alliance of these offi- cers. The International Convention became biennial after 1877 and triennial after 1899, but in all this period these secretarial meetings continued annual except that, after the meetings of the Convention became triennial, they were not held in the convention year. NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS 497 Progress Toward a Canadian Organization From time to time, at irregular intervals, with the growth in Canada of the national spirit, the Canadian delegates at an International Convention arranged to hold — in the interval be- tween Conventions — a national Association Conference. The first of these was held in Quebec in- 1877 and the second at Truro, Nova Scotia, in 1882. At both of these the International Committee was represented. These meetings were greatly en- joyed, and were progressive in their character, marking a growth in Canadian national sentiment, but in no way weak- ened the international bond of supervision and cooperation. Meanwhile the opening of Western Canada by the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway (1885), the settlement of the wheat lands, and the development of other resources increased the national spirit, which sought and found new forms of ex- pression, and at the Jubilee Convention of 1904 the Canadian delegates arranged for a third National Conference to be held in Montreal in the spring of 1905. To this Conference the In- ternational Committee received a cordial invitation and was represented by Chairman Warner, Vice-Chairman Marling — himself a native of Canada — Associate Secretary C. J. Hicks, and myself. Only absence abroad prevented Mott's attendance. One result of this national meeting was a strengthening of the international bond by an increase of the number of Canadian members of the International Committee. The seven active and two advisory members were now constituted a Canadian Section, of whom a working quorum of four resided in Montreal with President C. T. Williams as Chairman. The force of International Secretaries in Canada and the contribu- tions from Canada to the work were correspondingly increased. The International Convention of 1907 approved the action taken, and members of the Canadian Section were given a place on each of the sub-committees. Charles K. Calhoun, for many years a Secretary of the Montreal Association, was chosen one of the Committee's Field Secretaries and set apart for work in the Dominion, under the direction of the Canadian Section. In this way the work of Association supervision in the Dominion began to have organization, administration, a secretarial force, and financial support under a National Sub- 498 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Committee of the International Committee. By this arrange- ment for some years (1907-1911) the efficiency of Canadian Association supervision steadily increased, and the Canadian Section was enlarged to consist of eleven active and three ad- visory members, with a staff of five Secretaries devoting their whole time to work in Canada. A National Organisation Created To learn more fully what further adjustments were called for, the Committee joined its Canadian members in calling at Toronto on Dec. 29, 1911, a meeting of Canadian Asso- ciation leaders, not only in International but in local and Provincial Work. The Executive Committee was represented by Chairman Marling and the General and Executive Secre- taries, and John R. Mott was asked to preside. As a result of the conference, the International Committee united with the Canadian Provincial Committees in calling a National Conven- tion to meet in Winnipeg, May 30-June 12, 1912. In response 134 delegates from all parts of Canada met in that city. The International Committee was represented by its General Secre- tary, and by its Executive Secretary, Frederick B. Shipp, who, like Vice-Chairman Marling, had come to us in his youth from Canada. Previous to the meeting of the Convention, the three inde- pendent Canadian Provincial Committees had expressed a pref- erence to be related to, and made a part of, any national organi- zation which might be formed. In the discussion and action of the Winnipeg Convention, two prevailing sentiments con- trolled and guided the delegates. One favored and formed a national organization with a National Council and three terri- torial Committees of this Council. Each of these committees covered the same territory between Halifax and Victoria which had been covered by the preceding independent committees and each was composed of members from its preceding committee. The second prevailing sentiment was given equally strong expression in the following paragraph of the National Con- stitution: "Nothing in this constitution shall be interpreted as affecting the existing relations of the local Associations in Canada to the International Convention and its Committee." By this action the preservation of the international bond of NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL, RELATIONSHIPS 499 union was strongly affirmed and this constitution is still (1917) unaltered. Upon adjournment of the Convention the new National Coun- cil held its first meeting, and I was asked to attend it and had the valued privilege of suggesting as their choice for National General Secretary the name of an active influential delegate, Charles W. Bishop, who for two years had been the International Committee's acceptable Student Secretary of the Canadian Associations. The quorum of the new Council was located in Toronto. The Montreal Chairman of the Canadian Section, William M. Birks, however, was urgently asked to take the Chairmanship, and consented to do so for the first year, after which, and very reluctantly, his resignation was accepted. The new National Council invited to its annual meeting representatives of the International Committee. Shipp and I attended the meeting in January, 1913, and were deeply in- terested in the report of the development of the work of the National Council and its Territorial Committees. How to continue the new national organization on the lines on which it was developing, and at the same time live up to the declaration of the constitution adopted at Winnipeg, so that the relation of the Canadian local Associations to the International Convention was unaffected, proved to be a problem requiring time for its gradual solution. The following International Convention of 1913 favored the action taken at Winnipeg, waiting upon further development of the national organization and its work. When Dr. Mott became General Secretary in 1915, at his suggestion the National General Sec- retary of Canada became one of the Associate General Sec- retaries of the Committee, continuing to devote most of his time to the work in Canada. Later, Charles K. Calhoun be- came International City Department Secretary.- Of the fifteen Canadian members of the Committee, who continue their con- nection with its work, Abner Kingman was chosen a Vice- Chairman. Upon the outbreak of the war in Europe, the great enlarge- ment of Canadian Association work among Canadian troops on both sides of the Atlantic called for a corresponding in- crease of the budget and staff of the National Council. And only after the war is over will the International Convention 500 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN and the National Convention of Canada work out together the brotherly spirit, and intent of the clause I have quoted from the unamended constitution adopted at Winnipeg — a spirit deepened by their experiences as allies in a world war. World Conferences and Conventions, 1900-1913 During the twelve years beginning with 1900, in seven Euro- pean cities I attended seven meetings of the World's Commit- tee, always in company with Associate Secretaries Hicks and Mott. By counsel and support we cooperated with that Com- mittee and its staff. Five times the object of the journey was also to attend in other cities, with Secretary Mott, a meeting of the World's Student Christian Federation, and three times the committee meeting preceded the three World Conferences of 1902, 1905, and 1909. In connection with each World Conference and before or after its sessions the Association of the General Secretaries of Continental Europe held their annual meetings. The follow- ing allusion to one of these I find in a family letter of August, 1902, written after the Conference of that year in Christiania : "I tarried a day after the conference to meet with the General Secretaries. From London, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Berlin, "Stuttgart, Geneva, Rome, Paris, Vienna, Brussels, and other cities Secretaries were present. Not many years ago in no one of these cities was there an oflflcer bearing this name, and de- voting his life as now to this form of Association service. It gave me a strange feeling to hear from the chairman that I was one of the two seniors of the entire group — all of whom came from cities so much more ancient than any among us. But the office and the vocation owe their best development to workers in the new world, and this meeting, and the organiza- tion it represents, trace their origin to North American sug- gestion and precedent." In 1900 and 1910 a visit to Ober-Ammergau was included in our program. In a family letter of the period I find the fol- lowing mention of this episode : "At Ober-Ammergau I was joined by my associates Messrs. Mott and Hicks and we witnessed the Passion Play, in which during every tenth year nearly half the inhabitants of this village unite under the leadership of the priest and the church to present some of the scenes of Passion Week with a reverent impressiveness quite indescribable. What friends had told us NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS 601 of the gracious helpful nature of the whole service was abund- antly verified in our experience." The Paris Jubilee Conference, April 26-30, 1905 The Jubilee of the World's Conference was held at Paris, where in 1855 the first meeting was attended by a small group of 99 delegates, more than half of whom were from France and the remainder from seven other countries in Europe and North America. Now 754 delegates, including 38 from France, came from 28 countries to report the accelerating growth and prog- ress of a brotherhood planted on every continent. The World's Committee held an interesting preliminary ses- sion of several days, in Paris, at which there was a full at- tendance. North America being represented by Vice-Chairman Marling and Secretaries Mott, Hicks, and myself. The prog- ress accomplished by the World's Committee was carefully reviewed, and a re-afl&rmation of the Basis of 1855 was heartily agreed to, with a declaration that among its fundamental principles are: 1. Personal, vital Christianity on the part of the members. 2. The spirit of evangelical alliance according to John 17: 21 — "That they all may be one." 3. The activity and responsibility of members in efforts for the extension of the Kingdom of God among young men. In connection with the wording of the second of these declarations, the English-speaking members suggested the use of the adjective "interdenominational" — a word well under- stood and often used in American and English Association literature, and occurring often in these reminiscences. To our surprise, our associates speaking other languages said that there was no equivalent single word by which this could be translated so as to be understood in the sense intended by us. The absence of this word may have been due in part to the existence for centuries on the European continent of the State Church with what we would term its lowering influence on spiritual personal standards of state church membership. Our European friends, including George Williams, had often ex- presssed to McBurney and me their surprise that with our church or ecclesiastical basis of membership we could expect to maintain the supremacy of the spiritual, religious and char- 502 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN acter-making motive in the administration of our Association work. These friends found it essential in their work to use such a personal test as is defined in the Paris Basis of 1855 and realized in the vital union with Christ prayed for in John 17:21, 22, 23, 26. So now by our associates the meaning we intended to convey by our peculiar word was translated into their languages by the phrase : "spirit of evangelical alliance." These words, therefore, were introduced and interpreted by the words of our Lord's Prayer in John 17 : 21 : "That they all may be one ... in Me . . . and in Thee" — words, the cita- tion of which is engraved on the Association badge adopted in 1881 by the Conference and in use in all countries. At the opening session this reaffirmation, with the declara- tion above quoted, was impressively proposed to the Confer- ence in the name of its Committee by Prince Oscar Bernadotte, President of the Swedish National Alliance. It was unani- mously adopted by a rising vote, the delegates standing for a moment in silence and then singing to one tune, but in the various languages of the Conference, the verse beginning "Praise God from whom all blessings flow." Another very significant meeting occurred at the Hotel Con- tinental, where the delegates gathered in the large salon to greet Sir George Williams. For the first time in these fifty years he was unable, because of the infirmities of age, to attend the sessions, but he was able to receive the greetings of the delegates, extended to him by their leaders, and to respond in the following words: "Young men of France, I wish to say that if you would have a happy, useful, and profitable life, give your hearts to God while you are young. My last legacy — and it is a precious one — is the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation. I leave it to you, beloved Young Men of Many Coun- tries, to carry on and extend. I hope you will be as happy in the work as I have been, and more successful ; for this will mean blessedness to your own souls, and to the souls of multi- tudes of others." At the close of this remarkable session of the Conference, at the invitation of his son Howard Williams, I dined with Sir George as his only guest that evening. It was the last of many meetings and many meals we had enjoyed together quietly at his home and office and in many Association gather- NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS 503 ings elsewhere— meetings and intercourse invaluable to me and the memory of which I cherish with joy and gratitude. World's Conference of 1909 With Messrs. Marling, Mott, and Hicks I attended the World's Conference of 1909 at Barmen Elberfeld, Germany, for which admirable preparation had been made by German National Secretary Helbing. The delegates were received with hearty hospitality, and on the Delegates' Committee our two usual representatives rendered the service of veteran members. To the Conference of 1909 the Committee reported the calling of a third General Secretary in the person of Emmanuel Sautter, for many years National Secretary of the Associations of Prance. A World's Missionary Conference and a World's Committee Meeting In the years 1910 and 1911 three errands called me across the Atlantic. At Vienna a plenary meeting of the World's Con- ference was attended. To Budapest and Hamburg visits were made in the interest of the Committee's work for immigrants at European ports. Upon the third errand I attended in Edin- burgh the memorable meeting of the third Decennial Confer- ence of representatives of the many foreign mission Boards of European and American Protestant Churches. Among the thousand delegates were the leading Bishops and dignitaries of these churches. Indeed it was said of the conference mem- bership that "everybody was somebody !" In the thorough and scholarly preparation of the program and equally in the pro- ceedings these churches sought and found a satisfying leader- ship, outside of their divisions in the person of our Committee's Foreign Work Secretary, John R. Mott. Before adjournment a very significant forward step was taken by the election of a Continuation Committee to begin the union work suggested during the sessions. For chairman of this committee was chosen the American International Secretary who had presided so very acceptably over the Conference. In the summer of 1911 at Vienna during the World's Com- mittee meeting there was urgent call for an addition to the Committee of several members beyond the number as yet 504 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN authorized by the Conferences. During the discussion, it ap- peared incidentally that the three General Secretaries, Fermaud, Phildius, and Sautter, were voting members of the Committee. This led to an inquiry concerning American pre- cedent and practice and drew from me the statement — quite surprising to the European members present — ^that I had been for forty-one years General Secretary of the Committee, but was not a voting member, though regularly attending all Committee meetings. This led the three Secretaries at the next session to offer their resignations as voting members. The vacancies thus created were then filled by the election of the additional members desired. World's Conference of 1913 In arranging for the World's Conference of 1913 there was no adjustment of the place and date to the meeting, in that year, of the World's Student Christian Federation, so that delegates from countries distant from the places of meeting and belonging to both organizations might be able to attend both Conferences. Hitherto, greatly to the advantage of both Conferences, such a desirable adjustment had been successfully made ever since the formation in 1895 of the Student Federa- tion. But in 1913 the Federation met in America and the World's Conference at Edinburgh. This resulted in a smaller attendance at the latter meeting than would otherwise have been secured. It was the first World's Conference since 1872 that I was unable to attend. The North American Associations were well represented by International Secretaries — Shipp and Goodman on the Delegates' Committee. Secretary Fisher of our Physical Department so presented the work of that depart- ment that a favorable impression concerning its value and importance was received, especially by delegates from the European Associations. Secretary Goodman brought an equally strong message concerning the Bible Work. The resignation of Charles Fermaud, the Committee's Gen- eral Secretary since his appointment in 1878, was reported and in recognition of a long and faithful service of so many years the Conference elected Colonel Fermaud honorary General Secretary for life. General Secretary Sautter had been chosen NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS 505 by the Committee to take the position of executive responsi- bility which had been occupied by Colonel Fermaud. In my absence I received the distinction of an election as honorary American Secretary for life. Since 1913 meetings of the World's Conference have been discontinued, owing to the outbreak in Europe in 1914 of the World War. CHAPTER XXV FIRST PERIOD OF CHAIRMAN MARLING'S ADMINIS- TRATION, 1911-1915 Alfred E. Marling for fifteen years had served very eflSciently both as Vice-Chairman and active member of the Executive Committee and of many sub-committees. During occasional absences abroad of Dr. Warner he had acted as Chairman. On the latter's retirement, in 1910, he accepted an urgent election to the chairmanship and Dr. Warner consented to continue on the Executive Committee as an active member. His wise counsel and helpful cooperation ever since have been cordially appreciated by his successor in oflSce and the entire Committee. Changes Following the Withdrawal op C. J. Hicks To the new administration, during its first year (1911) a most serious problem was presented by the withdrawal of Secretary Hicks. Of this event some mention already has been made.i Both the Chairman and ex-Chairman agreed with me that in this as in some previous emergencies "the man of the hour" for the Committee was Secretary Mott, if it were prac- ticable for him to become General Secretary. For some of the responsibilities he had been carrying, Hicks himself had made provision by bringing to the Committee's oflflce in October, 1906, upon the death of Oflflce Secretary Erskine Uhl, a rarely capable assistant in Frederic B. Shipp, who for nine years previously had been on the staflE as Railroad Secretary for the Southwest. In the business department at once he showed such capacity that in 1909 he was carrying chief responsibility as its Secretary. In that year the Committee's stafiE suffered one of the most disabling losses it ever sustained, in the death by drowning at Silver Bay of Bruno Hobbs, who recently had begun a lead- ership of the Field Department, full of the brightest promise. 1 Pp. 431-4. 506 CHAIRMAN MARLING'S ADMINISTRATION 507 As a state committeeman, for years he had commanded the confidence of Association leaders. Qualified by this educative experience in State Work, he had been carefully chosen at the suggestion of Charles K. Ober, to carry out the policy of the Committee in relation to the State organizations as defined by the Convention of 1904, and since then fostered by the Com- mittee's staff. His loss was a blow to the Field Department and its development from which we did not recover until four years later, when that development took the form, under Sec- retary Shipp's able guidance, of the District Executive Secre- taryship.2 in the meantime, in this emergency of 1909, as an immediate resort, Shipp in addition to his other responsibilities began to administer the Field Department. When the retirement of Hicks seemed probable, the Chair- man brought to Mott's attention our joint desire that he should undertake the General Secretaryship. Then while the Chair- man was absent from the country for some weeks," Mott went over the whole subject with me in a frank and brotherly de- liberation. The previous year at Edinburgh the World Missionary Con- ference had made him Chairman of its Continuation Com- mittee, and this new responsibility for the present forbade any immediate favorable reply from him. His first pressing obliga- tion was to complete a promised journey to the Far East and then he would have more light upon a decision than now he could obtain. But could we aflford to wait ? Would it not be better to accept as final, the negative decision that he must now give? Of course that was a question to which only the Chairman and the Committee could give final answer, but for myself I expressed strong preference for the alternative of waiting. Chairman Marling was willing to give unusual time to the work, in frequent consultations both in our building, and away from it. At recent conventions and in other connections he had won the cordial confidence of -the brotherhood in both Canada and our own country. I believed that in this emer- gency he would increase both the time and attention he was giving and also on my part I could take on more than I had been carrying, for my constant effort for years had been to a p. 512. 508 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN depute to Associate and Senior Secretaries, each in his depart- ment, all I could possibly get them to carry. Now I felt strong enough and eager to resume some of these burdens. To the Chairman on his return (in the autumn of 1911) this interview with Mott and the three consultations with Hicks were promptly reported and the conclusions reached were approved by him. After thorough consideration it seemed best to discontinue the office of Associate General Secretary for the home work, and to place Executive Secretary Shipp under that title at the head of a third division of the entire work, giving him responsibility for those lines related to both the home and foreign fields or divisions. To the new division thus created were assigned the Publication, Business, Finance, and Treas- urer's Departments and Secretary Shipp's relation to the Field Department was continued, including oversight of the Panama Canal Zone work, and a vigilant relation, through the Field Secretaries, to the State Work. To facilitate this new combi- nation the Treasurer's office was removed from the first to the fifth floor of the building, in close connection with the offices of the General and Executive Secretaries. In further aid of this readjustment I was expected, as General Secretary, to maintain a closer connection than ever with each phase of this overhead work. Shipp was released from many of the details of the work he had been carrying by the development in experi- ence and ability of his assistant, J. Floyd McTyier, who rapidly showed capacity to bear first responsibilities. But another very strong feature in this arrangement, which made it practicable, was the consent of Chairman Marling to come into a more direct relation to major matters of adminis- tration, not only in the sphere of Shipp and myself, but in that of the departmental leaders. He set apart a time in each week when he was in the Committee's building accessible for consultation. This led to his occasionally taking part in some of the more important correspondence, and letters from him began to be a virile feature of that correspondence. For some years a meeting of the senior departmental Sec- retaries had been held for mutual information, consultation, and fellowship. Each month they met on the second day be- fore the Committee's regular meeting, and to this secretarial CHAIRMAN MARLING'S ADMINISTRATION 509 meeting a more oflBcial character now was given by the Chair- man and the Executive Committee. The problems before the Committee were deliberated upon, and this secretarial confer- ence became an excellent advisory factor in the administration. Resignation Presented, tut Action Postponed While these important improvements were being introduced, at the February (1912) Committee meeting, forty-three years after I accepted office from them, my formal resignation as General Secretary was submitted by the Chairman, with the explanation that it was submitted also by the Executive Com- mittee because of my desire to open the way for the calling of Dr. Mott to this position. In sympathy with this desire the Committee, without acting upon the resignation, authorized the Chairman to communicate officially to Dr. Mott, then absent in Europe, our united call to him. His formal reply came to the meeting in March and stated for record what he had said verbally to me five months before, that if his decision must be immediate it must be in the negative. To postpone an answer until after the experience of the year now before him — involv- ing a journey to the Far East on behalf of the Continuation Committee, from which he would return in May, 1913 — "might bring a different decision." To the Committee, and to all on its staff, it seemed best to prolong the negotiation. This feel- ing was strengthened by a wide consultation with Association leaders, who agreed with the opinion of the Committee. Ac- cordingly no further action was taken concerning my resigna- tion or the call to Dr. Mott. This term of waiting became, in fact, a three-year period before the desired consummation was realized. It proved a period of remarkable progress by the Committee and its staff, in preparation for far greater advance under the stronger leadership which was waited for. The progress achieved during these three years (1912-1915) was very largely due to the vigilance and wisdom of Chairman Marling, and to the development in Executive Secretary Shipp of a vision and capacity equal to the severe tasks connected with the serious problems presented in the Committee's work and in its relation to the whole movement— local, State, and Canadian. 510 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN Accordingly I was able to continue such deputing of ofiBcial responsibilities as I had practiced for many years. The effort to do this was made easier by the fact that in two compara- tively new directions I was called upon to expend a consider- able percentage of time and strength. In the first year of this period the completion of a text book on the History of the Associations was desired. This I completed much too hurriedly. In each of the summers also, in the usual vacation period, the Summer Schools challenged and secured from me enthusiastic cooperation. I was also asked to begin the preparation of these reminiscences, giving account of my con- nection during many years with the work of the Committee and with the Associations both at home and abroad. The Macfaeland Commission At the opening of this second year (1912-13) of the Marling administration the program of the September conference of the Committee and its Secretaries was prepared with special care. To an active member of the Committee, Commissioner Henry B. P. Macfarland, of Washington, was given the topic : "Perils and Weaknesses of the Work of the Committee." In order to present a thorough treatment of the subject he sought cooperation and suggestion from his fellow members on the Committee and from many other Association leaders, State and local. Replies and frank criticisms received by Chairman Macfarland were sent by him to our offlce without the names of their authors and these were carefully digested. Discus- sion at the conference was as thorough and exhaustive as had been the preparation for it. Of the criticisms it was note- worthy that those from leaders outside the membership of the Committee, were in every instance duplicated by some one or more of the Committee members. I was reminded of Cephas Brainerd's description or definition of the Committee's leader- ship during his quarter century chairmanship ! "That leader- ship has not been due wholly to the wisdom, real or supposed, of the individual members of the Committee. It was due to the fact that through its correspondence, its Secretaries, and its friends all over the land the Committee sought to gain the best views of the most eflScient men in the work. And when this was gained it was the aim of the Committee, acting col- CHAIRMAN MARLING'S ADMINISTRATION 511 lectively, to put into effective cooperation the most advanced thought of the wisest and most devoted leaders. We have not had opinions and plans of our own to force, when, after care- ful consideration and frank conference, it appeared there were better views and better plans to be adopted." The discussion resulted in the appointment of a Commission of Committee-members, with Macfarland as chairman, to digest and report all the suggestions of change. Some of these con- cerned the Committee's relation to State Work — its develop- ment and efflciency. To obtain further light Chairman Marling asked for a conference with committee-men and Secretaries of the State organizations. In response to his call, Secretary Shipp and I met in Chicago the leaders — ^laymen and Secre- taries — of fifteen State Committees. The deliberation gave light and leading to the commission, which was able in the December (1912) Committee meeting to make a report embody- ing sixteen important recommendations relating to the pro- gram and proceedings of the next International Convention, and to the policies and administration of the Committee. The Cincinnati Convention The Convention was to meet in six months (May, 1913) at Cincinnati, and in the Committee's report to it, all these recom- mendations were embodied in some of the 33 recommendations contained in that report. These were larger in number and more radical in character than had ever been submitted by the Committee to any Convention. Also five commissions brought to this Convention fifty-seven recommendations, besides the thirty-three brought in the Com- mittee's report. These excited more variety of discussion and volume of action than had characterized any preceding Con- vention. The Committee strongly promoted this by printing and for the first time sending its report to all the Associations thirty days before the meeting. New measures recommended by the Committee and adopted by the Convention were : 1. The appointment of the committee on the International Committee's report^ not as heretofore by the President, but by the representative committee on organization elected by dele- gates at the opening of the Convention. At the suggestion of 512 MY LIPK WITH YOUNG MEN the Committee, this change was made at Cincinnati at the opening of that Convention and the committee on the Inter- national Committee's report to the Convention was appointed in the new manner proposed and was composed of four lay- men and three Association Secretaries. 2. Discontinuance as voting delegates to the Convention of members and Secretaries of the International Committee and Secretaries of the State Committees, now numbering over 300 on foreign and home fields. 3. Authorization of the Committee to increase its working membership from seventy to one hundred. i. Further to strengthen State Work, the authorization of the Committee, in place of its Field Staff, to appoint and locate District Executive Secretaries for the promotion — under the direction of the Executive Committee — of State Work on their respective fields or sections. 5. Establishment of a Building Bureau. 6. Approval of a relationships agreement with Canada. 7. Authorization of a commission on Student Work. A Reorganization of the Convention These and other suggestions initiated by the Macfarland Commission were heartily approved and adopted at Cincinnati. The growing groups of departmental gatherings which had been held before and after the Convention, together with the departmental emphasis apparent in the proceedings, naturally suggested to some Association leaders that in the program of succeeding Conventions there should be an adjustment provid- ing for more departmental deliberation. In the programs of some previous Conventions, the Com- mittee had provided acceptably for a distribution of the dele- gates into sectional or departmental meetings. As early as 1872 such a distribution had taken place at Lowell, and the Convention reassembled to hear and act upon report and recommendation from each section. Similar deliberation and action was provided for and reported in the proceedings of the Conventions of 1889, 1891, 189.5, and 1899. In the deliberations of many State Conventions, sessions of this character had been acceptably introduced. But now the growth and ramification of the departmental CHAIRMAN MARLING'S ADMINISTRATION 513 life of the movement called for a treatment of the Interna- tional Convention program and a distribution of delegates for departmental discussion and action far more radical than here- tofore had been attempted. On their way home from the Cin- cinnati Convention, Chairman Marling and Secretary Shipp discussed the problem, and later I called their attention to the precedent existing in the action of previous Conventions. More emphatically our attention was given to the recent experience of "The General Secretaries' Conference" and its transfor- mation between 1903 and 1911 — under departmental pressure — into "The Employed Officers' Conference" with eleven sec- tions and departments. Certainly this pointed a path for us and it was agreed that the program of the next Convention should contain provision beyond precedent in this direction. A year later a strong reenforcement to this endeavor within the Committee came to us in connection with the meeting of the Employed Officers in 1914 at Lake Geneva. There Robert E. Lewis, the Cleveland General Secretary, brought together in his tent a small group of local and supervisory leaders and opened a deliberation upon this problem, manifesting a solici- tude on his part for some change in the program, and a dis- tribution of delegates at the Convention similar to what we were planning and to what then was visibly presented and suggested by the proceedings of the Secretaries' Conference we were all attending. We gave him our hearty sympathy and cooperation. His plan ripened into the radical change and distribution of delegates into sections, accomplished at the Cleveland Convention, 1916. This change was so in accord with the mind and plan of the Committee that it could have been accomplished without resort to "the initiative and referendum." But this resort seemed best to Secretary Lewis and his asso- ciates, and certainly a great advantage attaching to the method was that, before the Convention met, the measure in its details had been placed more fully before all the Associations than otherwise would have been possible, and the favorable senti- ment of the whole brotherhood was given an opportunity of expression. While we were preparing these improvements in addition to those happily accomplished at Cincinnati, further progress was made by securing, during the summer and autumn of 1913, 514 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN three Executive District Secretaries located at Chicago, Nash- ville, and Denver. Through the wise agency and eflfort of Secretary Shipp each of these Secretaries — George D. McDill, B. G. Alexander, and G. S. Bilheimer — was, not formally but really, nominated to the Committee by the State and local Secretaries of the section or district they were to serve. Further Progress in the Committee's Work During these two eventful years both the Chairman and Secretary Shipp had carried the overhead administration so effectively that I was able to complete in 1913 the text book on Association History, and could be given for the first part of the year 1914, a leave of absence in Italy for the work on these reminiscences which were desired from me by the Com- mittee. Meantime before the close of 1913, Secretary Mott had reached the conclusion that other obligations forbade his under- taking the General Secretaryship and to our January (1914) meeting the Executive Committee brought a report to this effect. This was published in Association Men and expressed the Committee's thorough sympathy with the considerations prevailing with Dr. Mott. It stated also that the postponement of decision had been due not to him but to the Committee's preference to prolong the negotiation. From this time the term "associate" was dropped from his title and he became in form — as for years he had been in fact — ^General Secretary of the Committee for its Foreign Department or division. At this time he assured me he would continue in that relation of help- ful consultation in regard to major problems of the home work, which he had sustained during the eleven years of our fellow- ship with Secretary Hicks, and which he had more recently continued in important conferences with our Canadian brethren in the forming of their national organization.^ My resignation, which had lain upon the table, was continued there by the Committee, not because now I was to take on more responsibilities, for the Committee was voting me a leave of absence for nearly half a year, but because my consulting relation to the oflSce and work was considered of suflflcient im- portance to justify this action. Meanwhile the Business •p. 498. CHAIRMAN MARLING'S ADMINISTRATION 515 Bureau was so handled by Executive Secretary Shipp, that in the years 1914 and 1915 the income of the Committee was col- lected on "the monthly pay as you go" plan, by which at the end of almost every month of these years all indebtedness was met. This happily checked the undesirable drift of too many payments into the month of December. In the early summer of 1914 Secretary L. Wilbur Messer, of Chicago, returned from his memorable world journey among his fellow Secretaries on the foreign field and reported first to the International Committee and then to 800 of his fellow Secretaries, at the Employed OflScers' Conference (June 26th) at Lake Geneva, the beginning of that program for the exten- sion and support of the Foreign Work which obtained, under his continued strong leadership and with the expert coopera- tion of Secretary E. T. Colton, final and enthusiastic adoption by the Convention of 1916. At this conference also the small group of leaders called to- gether by Secretary Eobert E. Lewis considered favorably as already mentioned the proposed reorganization of the next International Convention and the use of "the initiative" in promoting this change. The expectation that this Convention would meet on the Pacific Coast in connection with the World Exposition there in the year 1915 was disappointed, and the meeting was held in the following year at Cleveland. The Canadian National Convention was to meet in Septem- ber 1914. In the same month there was promise of a most interesting annual meeting of the Committee and its staff, in early forecast of the program of the Convention of 1916. Effect of European War But the sudden outbreak of the European war (August, 1914) and the many uncertainties created by that convulsion, led both the Canadian Associations to give up their Convention, and the Committee to postpone its annual meeting with its Secretaries. Dr. Mott was called to Europe in October by his relation to the Continuation Committee of the Edinburgh Con- ference (1910)) the World's Student Christian Federation, and our own World's Committee. He soon returned to begin the Committee's Association War Work among the millions of men 516 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN under arms in Europe with a special emphasis upon a blessed ministry to prisoners of war — a work destined speedily to out- grow in its immediate demands for support in men and money, both the home and foreign work of the Committee. In 1917 the United States entered heartily into the war. Then, following its precedent in various wars, the Committee, after a wide consultation with Association leaders, created the National War Work Council, and a vastly enlarged and unprecedented work was entered upon, not only among the en- listed men of our own army, but also among the soldiers of our allies. For the year ending July 1, 1918, a first estimate called for 135,000,000 — a sum many times greater than any annual expenditure by the Committee, even during the first years of this war. But before the campaign for this large sum was begun, it was regarded as inadequate, and over $51,000,000 was sought and generously given. This growth was possible due to Dr. Mott's masterly grasp of a vast opportunity, and to the mobilization of the whole Asso- ciation movement, local. State, and International. Before the overwhelming demands of the war absorbed the attention of the brotherhood, the instructions of the Cincinnati Convention were being carried out. New members were added to the Committee. The Fellowship Plan was made part of the Secretarial Bureau, and a beginning of the Building Bureau was intrusted to' Secretary Charles Sumner Ward. The Fry Commission Consultation with State and local leaders was continued and, as already mentioned, this had issued in the choice of Dis- trict Executive Secretaries, who in their turn, in promoting State Work and departmental cooperation by their fellow in- ternational Secretaries, reported that there was call for some "realignment in our departmental organization." Of this call the Committee at its February (1915) meeting took serious notice, and discerned the need of another commission to con- tinue, if it could not complete, the work so well begun by the Macfarland Commission and followed up by the Cincinnati Convention. The proposed reorganization of the Convention of 1916 added CHAIRMAN MARLING'S ADMINISTRATION 517 emphasis to the importance of some corresponding change in the Committee's distribution of its work. Accordingly, on motion of Wilfred W. Fry, a commission of nine members — known since by his name — was appointed with the mover as chairman. Four of these, including Chairman Fry and N. W. Ayer, had served on the Macfarland Commission. The same progressive spirit prevailed in their deliberations and the same desire and effort to learn thoroughly the mind of the brother- hood through extended consultation by correspondence and visitation. In both these lines Mr. Fry took an active part. Before he became a member of the Committee he had served for years as one of our leading City Secretaries, first in Trenton and then in Pittsburgh, and his double relation as layman and ex-Secretary commanded wide confidence and confidential inter- course of great value. There was a cordial recognition of what had been reported and accomplished at Cincinnati, and it was on the basis of achievement there that a further advance was promoted. After two months of wide consultation the com- mission spent nine hours of one day and evening (April 7) in deliberation. Dr. Mott was present, as he had not been able to be with the Macfarland Commission. His contribution to the deliberations was most important and for himself he gained a more intimate grasp of the home work situation, what it called for, and the practicability of meeting the demand it made on the Committee. For on that day the commission heard from every department through the Senior Secretary of each. Both the problems suggested by the situation and the pro- posed solution of them were now before the commission. This material needed careful sifting and arrangement and the com- mission adjourned for two months (April to June) that this might be done. This invaluable work was accomplished by those who had collaborated in our oflBce in preparing the re- port of the Macfarland Commission. In the report now prepared, the activities of the Committee were distributed into Departments, Councils, and Bureaus, and a City Association Department was provided for. The Senior Secretaries' Coun- cil was made a Cabinet to discuss each month questions to be submitted to the Committee. Minor details of administration were also well worked out. 518 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN During these two months those of us at work on these changes and improvements were all agreed in desiring that the carrying out of them should be attempted under the leader- ship of the strongest man on the Committee's staff. This thought of reverting again to Dr. Mott had been from the be- ginning in the mind of Chairman Pry. He had not taken part in the previous deliberations with Dr. Mott and was there- fore undiscouraged by them. But to all of us it was a welcome renewal of endeavor, for Shipp was not the only one of the group who could say with emphasis: "For this change I have hoped, prayed, and worked for years." I think, too, we were now realizing in a vague way that among the many bouleversements in every sphere that the great war was occasioning was an enlargement of our work, especially in the direction of Europe. We felt that Dr. Mott's world responsibilities might, be so changed and shifted as to favor his undertaking this proposed relation to a work, which was the home base of all wise and practicable Association extension by both the Committee and the Student Federation, abroad as well as at home. For nine hours he had sat with the commission at their first session as an active participant, going over all the problems of the home work as they were viewed by his fellow workers on the home field, both laymen and Secretaries. Perhaps it had been for him an enlightenment not before experienced in such detail. Meanwhile during this interval of two months. Secretary Mott met at Asilomar, California, in the Employed Officers' Conference, many of the secretarial leaders of the brotherhood. In personal fellowship and intercourse, considerations were presented to him that caused him during his long transcon- tinental journey home to give a thorough, patient, prayerful review to the entire problem. A conception was gained by him, so we learned afterward, of a conditional consent to what his friends on the commission desired. After its recess of two months the commission spent seven hours in passing upon a carefully digested "realignment" of the departmental and other features of the Committee's ad- ministration. The item in the report upon which first impor- tance was placed was the securing of a General Secretary CHAIRMAN MARLING'S ADMINISTRATION 519 who should administer the readjustment and enlargement of the work as this had been carefully outlined. When I asked a member of the commission whether in em- phasizing this recommendation they had in mind a man for the office, he replied, "Yes !" and named Dr. Mott, who was present. I shall never cease to recall, with a gratitude I cannot ex- press, the relief and joy with which I listened, when, in reply to this nomination, instead of naming reasons why this was impracticable he began to name conditions — some of them very difficult to fulfil but none of them prohibitive — upon which he thought he might attempt what the Committee had sought from him so repeatedly and with a friendly persistency. Doubtless in the providential program of his life it was not until this month of June, 1915, that the fulness of time had come for him to take this step, and my previous endeavors had been premature, but this only deepened the feeling of re- lief, release, gratitude, and satisfaction experienced by me on that memorable evening. The other features of the report were passed upon in a ses- sion of seven hours, and with the concurrence of the Executive Committee, Chairman Fry submitted the report to the June Committee meeting (1915) . The entire time of that session was devoted to the one recommendation relating to Dr. Mott. He was present and made a full statement of a conditional accept- ance of the office which was offered him, and to which he was giving prayerful consideration, in consultation with the friends associated with him in other responsibilities which he must continue to carry. After his full frank statement, the Chair- man asked every one of the members present to express as frankly his opinion regarding a renewed call by the Committee. Each one in turn expressed a favorable opinion, and by a heartily unanimous vote the offer of the office was made. Dr. Mott asked time for further consultation and the fulfilment of the conditions— especially as to the associates he would need. A principal one of these conditions was the consent of National Secretary Fletcher S. Brockman, of "China, to become his asso- ciate for both Home and Foreign Work— an appointment of first ' importance— ir order that in unavoidable occasional absences of the General Secretary the office could be efficiently administered. 520 MY LIFE WITH YOUNG MEN John E. Mott Becomes General SBCRETAEfr The Committee adjourned and met in the following week when the other features of the report were considered seriatim, slightly modified and adopted. Secretary Brockman was chosen Associate General Secretary for the Home and Foreign Work, and very considerately I was chosen "Consulting Gen- eral Secretary for life." Dr. Mott asked time for consultation with leaders of the churches and of the missionary forces and for the fulfilment of other conditions of his acceptance. Until September I was called away by a summer school ap- pointment in the Pacific Northwest. During this absence, on August 10th, Dr. Mott accepted the call of the Committee and entered upon the General Secretaryship, at once so admirably discharging the duties of the office that in the following month the September meeting of the Committee and its staff, held in Atlantic City was attended by an unexampled number of both Committeemen and Secretaries. It was on December 1, 1869, that I accepted the call of the Committee to become its "General Secretary and Editor." It was therefore toward the close of the 47th year of this con- nection that most gratefully I gave place to a stronger suc- cessor. For some years I had deputed so much of official responsi- bility that it seemed as if little or none of it was actually in my possession. Now, however, I was aware by its disappear- ance that a substantial residue had remained, and most grate- fully with genuine release and relief entered upon the new office granted me. A strong and adequate successor promptly and efficiently began to bring in a new era in the work of the Committee and of the brotherhood at home and abroad. This era was to be the second phase of Chairman Marling's administration. As an agency of the Church, in its second half-century the Com- mittee was calling the great leader of its work on the foreign field to the leadership of its parent work at the home base. The work was becoming an undertaking more world-wide than ever before, for Europe was entering into a more intimate and extended relation to the work of the Committee and its con- stituency than heretofore we had imagined possible. CHAIRMAN MARLING'S ADMINISTRATION 521 The first two years of Dr. Mott's secretarial leadership have abundantly shown not only how indispensable to the carrying out of the Fry Commission program was his commanding lead- ership, but also how essential he was to the improvement by the North American Associations of the vast opportunity this world war has presented to them of an unprecedented ministry to millions of young men under arms. The Consulting General Secretary The new administration gave a generous interpretation to the office and work of the consulting General Secretary. An offlce in the Committee's building was assigned, where he could be found for counsel by members of the staff, and from which he is constantly invited to departmental committee meetings. Continued attendance also is invited upon the monthly meet- ings and deliberations of the Committee, of the Executive Com- mittee and of the Secretarial Cabinet, and more recently of the National War Work Council — privileges which I deeply ap- preciate. The additional satisfaction of an active relation to the Summer Schools and other training agencies is also granted me. From the point of view gained in this new offtce, the prospect of the mission, message, and work of the brotherhood and its Committee is so full of the promise of stronger leadership and wider and better achievement, that the whole retrospect covered by these many pages of reminiscence takes on the as- pect of a John-the-Baptist period — a half century of forecast and preparation for the coming of a kingdom of achievement now near at hand, a kingdom sure of triumph less because of what has gone before than of what the future has in it of op- portunity, personality, and power, human and divine. IP t work aented at the held <; ■I a ■a 5 I ^' I 111 •epoog BAON 'Xinnoo noipij; — II if J ^^l:S^fi B.J >x] o So -d ■eg fcM^ go o S S 4vi ^ < ! I ft ? o APPENDIX II SUMMABY PBESENTED AT JtlBILEE CONFERENCE, BUFFALO, 1904 These fifty years of Association cooperatiou in North America have resulted in showing that: 1. Federation and its agencies have constituted a strong international bond of fellowship and union of effort between the Associations; and also 2. Have defined as the Association objective a work by young men for young men, maintaining and developing this objective by fostering (1) Bach department of this all-round work, physical and educational, social and religious; (2) Leadership and control by laymen; (3) Training and locating employed oflScers; (4) Planning and erecting Association buildings; (5) Organizing young men of many classes to seek each the welfare of the young men of its own class. (6) Fellowship with a world brotherhood (a) Through a World's Conference and its Committee, and (b) By planting in non-Christian nations Associations with federa- tion agencies of their own. 3. While the main objective has been the growth of the individual Associations, successful effort has been made to increase the efficiency of the federation agencies themselves: (1) By wisely multiplying conventions and conferences, state and provincial, district and county, student and railroad, developing each group, department and branch; and by so developing the state and pro- vincial organizations that the aggregate of their supervision now exceeds that of the international on its home field. (2) By providing for international, state and provincial work an amount of money aggregating ten per cent of the total expenditure for Association work. 4. Thus the North American Associations in bearing one another's burdens — the strong bearing the infirmities of the weak — have so "ful- filled the law of Christ" that they are in turn receiving fulfillment of the promise to those who obey this commandment of brotherly fellowship. These first fifty years of Association federation have justified the brightest hopes of the men who came together half a century ago to constitute the first convention. The good results they prayed for have been gradually realized in a brotherhood of Associations now stronger, more numerous and aggressive in all lines of work for young men than 523 524 APPENDIX II ever before, and intelligently testifying to federation work as one of the most influential factors in promoting this marvelous progress. Differences of opinion about methods exist — have always existed, ■with more or less contention. But the spirit of unity, through the divine presence and help, has in every discussion steadily and invari- ably prevailed. The achievements of the past are secure, ■wrought out by Him -whose name the Association bears and by -whose blessing all has been accomplished. Invoking His continued favor and leadership, depending on His forgiving love and the indwelling might of His co- operation, seeking that unity in Him which alone brings unity with one another, we look forward to a second half-century of federation, con- fident that its years will witness an ever-widening extension of the Kingdom of Christ among young men at home and abroad, among all classes and races, and upon every continent. INDEX Church Basis County Work Industrial Work Int. Comm. Int. Convs. Int. Sees. Int. Work Paris Basis Cephas Brainerd Thomas K. Cree William B. Dodge Principal Topics Railroad Work Relationships City and Student Int. and State Lay and Sec'l Local and Supervisory Sec'l Bureau Sec'l Schools Some Principal Names JMorrls K. Jesup Robert E. McBurney James McCormick John R. Mott Sec'l Training Student Assns. Student Confs. Student Fedn. World Journeys World's Comm. World's Confs. James Stokes Cornelius Vanderbllt Robert Weidensall Abbott, Lyman, 109, 461, 487 Adams, Frederic, 42. , Thatcher M., 60, 61. — —, Wm. 30, 39, 52, 61, 63, 158. Adelaide, Australia (1902), 424 Africa : South, extension to, 427-8. darkest, 376. northeast, 422. Agnew C. R. (1874), 60. Agra, Taj Mahal (1902), 422. Aiken, Edwin E., Missionary China 1907) 333 Albert Hall, London (1894), 244. Albricias, Francisco (1878), 176. Aldersgate St. Assn. Rooms, London (1872), 102. Alexander, George, 213. , James W., 3. , Maltiand, 213. Allahabad, India (1902), 423. Allegiance to (Churches, see Evangel- ical. Allen, Arn (1910), 463. All-England-Eleven, 344. • Ailing, John W., 43. American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, 6, 7. history, critical period of, 4. Legation Guard, Peking, 311. Miss'y Assn., 402. Amherst College, 64, 332, 335. Amsterdam Univ. (1889), 371. Andersen, Hans P., on Field StatE, 291 ; at Mt. Hermon Conf., 351 ; on For. StafE, 433. Anderson, Martin B., Rochester Dniv. Assn., 63, 64; Conv. of 1875, 143, 330. , Frank Assn., Sec. Bombay (1902), 422. Andover Academy, 12. 23, 26-30. Theological Seminary, 5-8, 14. Andre, Alfred, 235. Anniversary, N. T. Assn., 323, 328. Arabian Sea (1902), 422. Archbald, Thomas, Yale Assn. Sec, 320, 339. Archbishop of Canterbury, 223. Armstrong, Sam'l H., General, 406. Army and Navy Work : Militia tent work, 276. In Spanish War, 309-12. Extension to Japanese army, 433. Progress, 451, 476, 521, see U. S. Christian Commission. Ashmore, Dr. William (1885), 368. Asilomar, Cal. (1915), 518. Associate Gen. Sees., see Int. Comm. Assn. Exhibits, see Exhibits. Handbook, 292-3. Assn. Men and Men, 490-4. Assn. Monthly, Editor and Publisher two years, 61-68, 73, 77, 79-84, 94, 109, 4S7-8. ... Movement a World Power, see World Powers. Polity, see Polity. Assns., see Y. M. C. A. Astor, John Jacob, 17. Athenaeum Club, London (1884), 224. Athens (1892), 281. Athletic League, Assn., see Fourfold Work. Atlantic crossings, 21, 101, 481. Auckland, N. Zealand (1902), 426. Austen, Mrs. Edward, hostess of Topic Party, 225. Australasian Assn. Tour (1902), 423- 8. Ayer, N. W., Int. Comm. Member, 296, 517. Baldwin, Bishop, Bible Topic speaker, conv., 1885, 199, 215. Ballaugh, James, Int. Comm Corre- sponding Member Japan, 368. Barbour, Wm. M^ Yale Pastor, 331. Barde, Edward, Pastor, 105. Barnes, Clifford W., Yale Assn. Sec. (1890-2) 339. Barnum, Henry S., 41, 49. Barrows, Samuel J., 148. Basis or Test, church, see Evangelical. Basis of 1855 at Paris, 104-5, 385, 501- 2. Basle, World Conf. (1898), see World Confs. Bates College, 335. 525 526 INDEX Beach, Harlan P., 96, 365, 475. Beal, Fannie, 169. Beard, Geo. M., 45. Beecher, Henry Ward, 25, 33, 34, 39, 52, 82. , Lyman, 15. Beirut, Syria (1892), 280. Bellows, Henry W., 50. Benares, India (1902), 423. Bergen (1888), 239. Berlin (1884), 218, 220-2. Univ., 371. Bernadotte, Prince Oscar, see Oscar. Bernstorff, see von Bernstorff. Bible class : Shipton's London (1872), 102-3. George Williams' (1876), 159. Bible Societies, 7, 10. Bible Study and Work in Assn. : Among Indians, 407. Convention topics, 118, 199, 215-17. • George Williams' class, 154. Hind Smith, 134-5. Moody's inquiry room, 118, 122. Niagara Conf. (1897), 272-3, 321. Robert Orr's paper, 174. Stud. Assns., 345-6. Topic Party (1876-91), 224-27, 277. Bicycle, 319 ; century run, 322. Biennial Meetings, see Int. Conv. and World's Comm. Billings, Fredk., Mrs., 298. Birks, William, 499. Bishop, Chas. W., 499. , Nathan, 189. Blue Eidge School, 485-6. Boardman, John R., 415. Body Building, 264. Boer War, 311. Bombay, India (1902), 421-2. Bonn Univ., 371. Bonna, Frederic, Member World Comm. (1878), 175. Boomer, Wm. B., 331. Boston Assn. (1851), 23, 211; Jubilee Conv., 435-40. Bostwick, Jabez, substantial supporter (1889), 208. Bosworth, Francke H., 45. Botta's "History of Amer. Revolution," 28 Bowdoin College (1883), 335. Bowen, Anthony, 400. Bowers, Phoebe, 315-6. Bowery Branch N. Y. Assn., 158, 334. Bowne, Jacob T., 122 ; apprentice training, Newburg, 189-90 ; Histor- ical Library, 201 ; Springfield School and College, 258. Bowne Historical Library, 201. Boxer War, 311, 471. Boys' Work, 213 : State Sec, 276. Pioneers and Int. Sec, 410-13. Bralnerd, Cephas, Director N. T. City and Chairman Int. Comm. (1867- 92). 60, 61, 67, 69 ; convention leader, 77 ; author Reports of Comm., 93, 374 ; in correspondence, address, in- terview, and conference, 110, 127, 137, 145, 168, 192, 317, 374, 377, 439 446, 448, 254 ; resignation 1891- 2, 274 ; tribute by fellow workers, 281-7. , Mrs., 110, 274. , Cephas, Jr., Int. Comm. Member, 290. Brandt, John B.,- Gen. Sec, Secretaries' Conf., 80, 81. Brazil, For. Work, 379, 433. Btick Church Chapel, N. Y. city (1867), 54; 213. British Assns., Early polity of, 102 ; College Christian Union, 300 ; Nat'l Council and Comm., 220 ; Stud. Vol- unteer Movement, 373, see Stud. Broadus, John A., convention Bible session, 216 ; chaplain Univ. Ya., 330; at Northfleld Conf. (1887), 355. Brockinan, Fletcher S., Stud. Sec, 289 ; in the South, 378; National Sec, China, 466 ; Associate Gen. Sec, 519. Brookes, James H., Int. Conv. Bible Topic (1877), 216. Brown, Henry E., Int. Sec. Colored Work (1879), 402. , Isaac B., veteran Sec, 122 ; State Sec. Illinois, 414. , James M., Trustee N. Y. City Assn (1869), 60. , John, 33. , John Crosby, N. Y. City Director (1869), 60; worker in Moody Hippo- drome meetings (1876), 158. — — , Oscar E., Prof., "Assn. a World Power," 389. Brown Univ., at New England Coll. Conf. (1883), 335. Brunot, Felix R., chairman Pres. Grant's Indian Commission, 131. Budapest, Hungary (1911), 503. Budge, Dan'l A., Sec. Montreal, 122, 124 ; Australasian work, 426. Buffalo, 435, 440. Jubilee, see Jubilee. Building, Y. M. C. A., Parent Assn., London, 66, 430. Buildings, Y. M. C. A., pictures of, 79 ; old 23rd St., N. Y., 20, 21, 62, 66, 67, 253, 326, 411, 455; West Side, N. Y., 326, 411; Philadelphia and Washington, 65 ; Chicago, 1870, 66 ; central, 255-6, 491 ; Atlanta, 199 ; Paris, 235 ; Geneva, Switzer- land, 239 ; Osaka, Japan, 366, 370 ; Tokyo, Japan, 374, 469 ; Shanghai, China, 482 ; Kyoto, Japan, 470 ; San Francisco, 65-6, 430, 464; Al- bany and Omaha, 491 ; Portland, Oregon, 465 ; Student Yale, Dwight Hall, 237, 333-7; Toronto, 352; Railroad, 393, 458; Community Assn., 416 ; Mass. State Comm., 418 ; Int. Comm., 418-19, 455-61. , Bureau, see Int. Comm. Bund, German-Amer. Assn., see von Schluembach. Burder, Geo., 6. Burford, Geo. B., first Assn Sec. among miners (1886), 395. Burnell, K. A., evangelist (1872), 116. Bushnell, Horace, pastor, 24, 25, 52. Butterfield, Mrs., bequest to Army and Navy Work, 417. Cabinet, Secretarial, see Int. Comm. Cairo, Egypt (1892), 278. Calcutta, India (1902), 423. Calhoun, Charles K., Int. Field Sec, 497; City Dept. Sec, 499. Cambridge Band., described by Studd, 347-8 ; suggests first Stud, volunteer tours, 362. Campaign, Short Bldg. Fund, by C. S. Ward, 429. Campbell, Charles S., Yale Univ Sec, 341. INDEX 527 Canada, fellowship with, 495-500. Canadian Friendships, 496. Int. Comm. members and Sees., 496-7. Nat'l Confs., 1877, 1882, 1905, 497. Nat'l organization, convention at Winnipeg, council and Gen. Sec, 498-9 Pacific Railway, 497. Section, 497. Tours, 495. Canton, China (1907), 466. Carlisle Indian School (1894), 407. Carlton Club, London (1884), 224. Carter, Edward C, Int. Comm. For. Sec. India and Home Stud. Sec, 360. Cary, Richard (1789), 12. Cassatt, A. J., pres. Penn. R. R. and friend of R. R. work, 399. Catechism, Shorter, 19. Catlln, Arnold W., 45. Centenary Couf., China, see China Centenary. Century Run 319. Cerography, 12. Chamberlain, Daniel Henry, 48, 401. , Geo. W., Missionary S. America, at Northfield Conf. (1887), 365. , Jacob S., Missionary India, at Northfield Conf. (1887), Plea for For. Assn. Worli, 365, 368-9, 375. , Wm. I., Int. Comm. correspond- ing member for India, 369. Chamberlln, H. B., Gen. Sec^ 122; delegate to World Conf. (1878), 173. Changsha, China (1907), 475. Chapman, Robert F., 45. Charles I's Death Warrant, 224. Chef 00, China (1907), 476. Chesapeake & Ohio K. R., 394. Chesterfield, Lord, letters of, 3. Chicago Assn., visited (1870), 66; D. L. Moody, pres. and evangelist, 72 ; first parlor conf., 151 ; at Int. Conv. of 1883, 190-1 ; problems and prog- ress (1870-88), 254-8. College, see Secretarial Training. China centenary (1907), 464, 471-5. Inland Mission, 347. Chinese Nat'l Assn, Conf. (1907), 466. Chism, Murray, Yale Sec, 342. Christian Colleges at Beirut and Con- stantinople (1892), 280-1. Christian (Commission, gee U. S. Chris- tian Comm. „„„, Christlania — World Conf. (1902), see World Conf. ChristUchcr Verein Junger Manner, Berlin Germany, an Assn. formed 1883 on Amer. plan, 103, 183, 200, 218 ; its influence beyond Germany, 221, 237, 248. Church Basis and Allegiance, see Evan- gelical Ch. Basis. _ „ .,., ^ Church, Ref. Dutch Owasco Outlet, 49 'of Christ In China (1907), 472- Cincinnati Int. Conv. (1913), 511-3. Citv Assn. Work, two types, 192-3. Development, 251-74, 342-3. Dept. of Int. C;omm., see Int. Comm. ^ , City and Stud. Assn. movements, rela- tion to one another. 193, 330-1, 342- 3 ; to chhs., 213, 371-2 ; to extension of Stud. Work, 379-89, 473. City Missions, founder of in N. Y. and Boston, 13-4. Civil War, outbreak, 32 ; Sanitary and Christian Commissions, 48 ; deorge H. Stuart, chairman, 74 ; record of Harrisburg Assn., 130. Clark, Myron A., Senior For. Sec. to South America, 378, 433. Classes of young men, outreach to, 193, see Stud., R. R., German Amer., Industrial, Colored, Indian, Army and Navy, County, Boys', Foreign, and Departmental emphasis. Claverack, N. Y., 16. Claxton, T. James, Canadian member Int. Comm., 496. Clay, Henry, 18. Clinton, DeWitt, Governor, 7. Clubhouse and Y. M. C. A., contrasted, 398-400, see R. R. Work. Cobb, Geo. W., first R. R. Sec, 114, 118, 121. , Oscar, committee member of Buf- falo of 1854 and 1904, 442. Cochran, Thos., vice-chairman Int. Comm., 377. Coe, Edward B., 41. Coffin, Henry Sloane, Yale Assn. pres., 339 Colby,' Chas. B., Int. Conv. pres., 186. Univ. (1883), 335. Colgate, Gilbert, Int. Comm. Trustee, 97, 173. , Henry A., 97. , Richard M., 96 ; member Int. Comm., 96 ; on sub-comms., 192, 290, 320. , Samuel (1), charter member N. Y. Assn., 59. , Mrs. Samuel, a "Mother-sister," 18, 22 ; Topic Party, 225. , Samuel (2), 320. , Sidney M., 173. College Assns. and Intercollegiate Work, see Stud. , Class of '62, meeting of '97, 320-1. , Confs., see Stud. , Life of R. C. M. at Yale, 31- 47. , Northeastern, see Northeastern. Colleges, Y. M. C. A., see Springfield and Chicago. Colombo, Ceylon (1902), 423. Colored Assn. Work, 160, 400-4. Colton, Ethan T., Int. Stud, and For. Work Sec, 433, 515. Committees, see Int., State, Stud., Col- lege, National. Comm. of Twenty-one on Int. and State Work relations, 445-6. Conchiching Lake Continuation School, Canada, 485-6. Conferences, see Int., State, Stud., Col- lege, National. CongregaUonaUst, The, see Recorder. Constantinople (1892), 281. Continent, The, Chicago, 490. Continuation Comm., Edinburgh Conf., 473, 503, 507, 509, 515. Comm. of China, 473. Sec'l Schools, Lake Geneva, Silver Bay, etc., 483-7. Controversy of 1904, Int. and State Work, 441, 443-55. Conventions, see Int., State, Provin- cial, World. ^^^ ^^_ Cook, Paul, Pastor, 105, 146. Cook's Tourist Agency, 173. Cooper Institute, address of Lincoln, Copenhagen Univ. (1889), 371. 528 INDEX Cornell Dniy. Assn., J. E. Mott, pres. and delegate to Mt. Hermon, 351. Corporation of City of London and Sir George Williams, 245. Corresponding Members of Int. Comm., call State and Provincial Convs., 111-2, annual reports, 111 ; foreign, 367-8, 374. Coulter, J. M., plea for Int. Comm. permanent fund, 418. County and Rural Work, pioneered by R. Weidensall, 292. "Soldiers of tlie Soil," 312. Sec'ship, local, State, Int., 414-15. Cox, Charles F., Railroad member Int. Comm., 291. , Samuel Hanson, 10. Coxnead,^ Geo. T., veteran Sec. E. E., City, Int., 122. Cree, Thomas K., Gen. Sec. Pittsburg, 71, 76, 83 ; Sec. Indian Commission and Int. visitor at South, 112, 137- 8, 141, 200 ; at Sees. Confs., 124 ; Int. Parlor Conf., 131 ; becomes Int. Sec. (1876), 153-4; self-denying, 157 ; proficient in locating Gen. Sees., 171, 180 ; as described by Robt. Mc- Burney, 181 ; and in Int. Comm. Report (1883), 188; Sec. of Moody's Chicago campaign, 190 ; leader in World's Confy^ 219, 242 ; member of Bible 'Topic Party, 225 ; acceptable Sec. in Paris, France, 235 ; helper of The Watchman, 489. Crisis, financial, see Financial. Cromwell, Oliver, 224. Crosby, Howard, as convention speaker, 56 ; pastor, 213. , James H., 41. Crossley Hall, Mt. Hermon (1885-6), 350. Cuchet, Henri, member of World's Comm. (1878), 175. Cuffee, Paul, 7. Cuyler, Theodore L., and Thane Miller, 75 ; preeminent delegate at Jubilee Conf. (1894), 245-6; tribute to Cephas Brainard, 282 ; to George Williams, 461. , T. DeWitt chairman Comm. on Int. Comm.'s Report (1S89), 375. Czar of Russia, interview (1907), 477- 9. Daily Meetings, see Prayer-meeting. Dairen, Manchuria (1907), 476. Dakota, Steamer (1907), 465. Univ. (1892), 270. Damascus, Syria (1892), 279. Dana, James D., 46. Darjeeling, India (1902), 423. Darling, Timothy G., 50, 51. Darlington, Mrs., treasurer Women's Auxiliary, 417. Dartmouth Coll., delegates at first N. England Coll. Conf. (1883), 335; at Mt. Hermon Conf. (1886), 851. Davenport, W. R., at first Harrisburg Parlor Conf., 130-1. Davis, Ozora, delegate to Mt. Hermon Conf;^ 351. , Sarah Louisa, Mother of R. C. M., 16, 22. , William, 16. Day of Prayer at Princeton, 1S76, 161. Day, Melville C^ 42. Dayton Y. M. C. A., educational work under Sec. Sinclair, 270. DeForest, Robert W., and Int. Comm. Building, 459. Delhi, India (1902), 422. Deming, M. R., Gen. Sec. Boston Assn., 264. Dennis, James S., 50. Departmental Emphasis, on fourfold work, 263-73 ; on Int. Work, 288-91, 297-S; added depts., 429-30, 452. Devereux, James H., first E. E. pres. promoting R. R. Assn. Work, 113, 152, 390 ; a serious experiment sur- vived, 392 399. Diamond Jubilee of Bvl. Alliance, 481. Dill, Arthur C, leader Yale Christian Social Union, 332. Dimsdale, Alderman, London, tribute to Geo. Williams, 245. Dinners, Int.^ see Int. Comm. Discretion given to Int. Comm., by Conv., 94. Acted upon in Spanish War, 309-11. In For. Work, 373-5. In World War, 515-16. Discoverers of Secretaries, George A. Hall, 140 ; Charles K. Ober, 263. District Exec. Sees., see Int. Comm. Doddridge's "Rise and Progress," 29. Dodge, Cleveland H., a Princeton under- graduate promoter of intercollegiate Assn. movement, 162 ; on Int. sub- comm. on Student Work, 192, 289 ; withdraws to Advisory Board, 294- 5 ; returns to Stud. Comm. chair- manship and whole Int. Work, 304 ; friendship for R. C. M., 298, 463 ; joins in calling Mt. Hermon Stud. Conf., 355, and Mott as Stud. Sec, 357 ; gives half the Race Relation- ship fund for five years 403 ; to the million dollar fund, 421 ; and the third San Francisco bldg. fund, 430. , D. Stuart, Yale graduate 1857, treasurer Yale Assn. graduate comm. (1883), 335, 340. , Grace H., preeminent leader of Y. W. C. A. movement, 231 ; unites two branches of movement, 456 ; helpful connection with procuring Int. Com. bldg. (1906-8), 456-60. , Marcellus H., head of Industrial Dept., 296 ; its new departure (1906), 397. , Wm. E., presides at Hippo- drome Meetings of Moody and San- key (1873), 156; makes first bequest to Int. Comm. (1883), 186. , Wm. E., Jr., Sunday school su- perintendent, 47 ; pres. of N. Y. Assn. (1867), 56-7; donor of largest contribution to "old 23rd St bldg.," 59 ; strongly identified with Int. Comm., 61-2 ; adds "physical" to definition of Assn. Work, 67 ; pres. Int. Convs. (1869, 1901), 60, 439; member Int. Comm., 141-2 ; presides at Baltimore Parlor Conf., 151 ; leader in Student Work, 162 ; helps plant work on Pacific coast, 180 ; tribute to Chairman Brainerd, 282- 3 ; to R. R. McBurney, 325-6 ; sug- gests first world journey of R. C. M., 421 ; first of substantial supporters of Int. Work, giving to current ex- penses, 139, 206, 208; to million- dollar fund, 420-1. , Wm. B., Jr., Mrs. gives site of Int. Comm. bldg., 417, 456-8; to fund for third San Francisco build- ing, 430. Doggett, Lawrence L., pres. of Spring- field School and College, 260. INDEX 529 Donors and Gifts to Int. Work, 205- 10. Dorian Lue, member for Prance of World's Comm. (1878), 176. Douglas, Stephen, U. S. Senator (1854- 5), 24, 34. , Walter C, a veteran Gen. Sec, 122 ; two out of many influential convention addresses, 437, 449. Drummond, Henry. "Tlie Greatest Thing in the World," Northfleld Conf. (1887), 300; other influential messages to N. American colleges, 355, 360. Dudley, Sumner F., a Boy's Work veteran, in State and local work, 412-13, 276. Dumb-bell Drill, Roberts', 27, 263-4. Dwight Hall, building of Yale Assn., 237, 333-8. Dwight, Timothy (1), pres. Tale Col- lege (1795-1817), 5, 14, 336. , Timothy (2), 46, Yale pres. (1886-99), dedication address in Dwight Hall (1886), 338. Dyer, Chas E., Gen. Sec, Detroit (1880), 122, 189. East, Near East, Far-Eastern Wk., by U. S. and Canadian Assns. united, 496. Eastern Assn. School, Silver Bay, 484- 5. Easthampton, L. I., Presbyterian Chh. (1863 and 1867), 48, 50. Eastman, Chas. A., first Int. Comm. In- dian Sec, 404-9. Eato, E. V. C pres. Negro Assn., N. y. city (1866-7), delegate to State and Int. Convs., 400. Eckhoff, M. Luther, member from Nor- way World Stud. Christian Fedn. Comm., 385. Eddy, G. Sherwood, Int. For. Sec. in India, 379; Nati. Sec for India, Assoc. Gen. Sec. For Wk., 433. Educational classes and work, 268-71, see Fourfold Work. , Edward VII, as Prince of Wales (1872), 90; in House of Lords (1884), 223, 439. ^ , . „ , Edwards, Richard H.. Yale Assn., first Yale Univ. Sec, 340. „,„ „, Egypt and Palestine (1893), 277-81. Eevptian Hall, London, World's Conf. (1881), 220. ^ « « * Eidenbenz, Herman, member of first World's'Comm. (1878) 175-6, 237. Eisenach, Germany, World Stud. (Chris- tian Federation meeting at (lb98), Eidredge, J. L., Teteran Int. Conv. delegate at Buffalo, 1854 and 1904. Eliot, George, 38. . Elllc6tt, Bishop,^ 223-4 ; in House of Lords and Athenaeum Club (1884), 223-4 Eisasser, Sec Stuttgart, Assn. Jubilee (1911), 1S4. Ely, Chas W., 45. Emory and Henry Coll. Assn., see Stud. Assns. ,„..^ , Emperor of Germany (1901), Wiihelm El' of Japan (1907), 471. of Korea at Seoul (1907), an in- terview, 465. Louis Napoleon, 23. Napoleon First, 29. Emperor, Russian (1907), an inter- view, 477-79, 482. Employed Ofllcers, see Gen. Sees, and Sees. Empress of Russia (1907), 478. , Dowager of Russia (1907), an interview, 479-80, 482. Episcopal ecclesiastical system, 251-2. Bscot, England (1881), 220. Estes Park Continuation School, 485-6. European and World Tours, 101, see World Confs. and World Tours. Evangelical Alliance, 10 16, 126. Chh. Test or Basis, adopted by Portland Conv. (1869), 60; com- pletely adopted by Assns. (1883), 193 ; growing allegiance to chhs. and fourfold work, 211-12 ; churchly loy- alty in Stud. Volunteer Movement and Boys' Work, 213 ; in For. Edu- cation Comm. and Int. For. Assn. Work, 366-9, 375-6, 462. Diamond Jubilee, 481. Evarts, Jeremiah, 5. , Wm. M., 282. Eventful Year '98, (1) Spanish War and Army and Navy Work, 309-11 ; Militia Tent State Work, 309; (2) World Conf., Basle, Switzd. ; (3) World Stud. Christian Fedn., Eise- nach, Germany, 311-14; (4) New Int. Comm. and Gen. Sec. Offices ; (5) on the bicycle and other activi- ties, 314-23; (6) McBurney's last sickness and Tower Room, 323-28. Exec. Dist Sec, see District. Exeter Hall, London, becomes Assn. bldg., 218. Exhibits, Assn., World's Exposition (1876), 159; Int. Conv. (1893 and 1901), 291, 439-40. Fanning Island, Pacific Ocean (1902), 423 Farewell of George Williams, Paris Jubilee World's Conf. (1905), 502. Farweil, John V., pres. Chicago Assn., parlor conf., Chicago (1876), 151; Moody and Sankey Hymn-Book Fund, 157. John v., Jr., a leading Director, Chicago Assn., 1901 ; fellowship with J. L. Houghteling and C. H. McCor- mick, 254-5 ; pres. of Chicago Assn. (1884-94), 258, 352. Faunce, W. H. P., conv. Bible topic speaker, 1895 ; Northfield Conf., 359. Federation, see Fifty Years of. Federation Comm., see World Stud. Christian Fed. „„„ Fellowship Plan of C. K. Ober, 263, 462, 485, 516. with the South, 144, see South- ern Tours. Fermaud, Chas., Gen. Sec. World's Comm. (elected, 1878), 174-7; World's Comm. meeting (1886), Conf (1888), 236-42; our guest, 317, 439 ; hon. Sec for life, 504-5. Ferry, John, first Yale Sec. Scientific School, 340. Field, Cyrus W., and Cornelius Van- derbilt, 153. Field Dept., the beginning, Robt. Wei- densall (1868), 84; gradually de- veloped by T. K. Cree and C. K. Ober^ 200, 203, 290-1. 378; loss of Bruno Hobbs, F. B. Shipp and the District Sees., 506-7. 530 INDEX Fifty Tears of Fedn. (1904), 442. Financial crises, (1) after Civil War (1873-8), emergency effort, 127-34; recovery, 143, 150-1, 154, 156-7 ; (2) of 1892-7, Int. State, and local work afeected, 276-7. limitations of work, 452. short campaign method by Chas. L. Ward, 429-30. support and donors, James Mc- Cormick and parlor confs., 128-39 ; help of D. L. Moody and others, 156- 7, 179, 191 ; fuller account of donors and gifts, 204-10. Flnley, Samuel, pres. Princeton Col- lege, 6. Finney, Chas. G., evangelist and edu- cator, 359, 402. Fisher, Galen M., Int. For. Sec. and Nat'l Sec, Japan, 379, 433, 465, 468. — I — ; Geo. J., Int. Sec, Physlaal Dept., 267-8; World Conf. delegate (1913), 504. , Geo. P., professor at Yale, 39, 46, 52, 345. ■ , Samuel H., treas. Yale Assn. Graduate Comm., 340. Football experience at Andover (1855- 8), 27. Foreign Assn, Wk., see Int. For. Wk. Foreign Education Comm., Elbert B. Monroe, chairman, R. C. M. Sec, 367-8. Forman, John N., and R. P. Wilder, beginning of Stud. Volunteer Move- ment, 364-5. Fortletn Anniversary R. C. M.'s, 463. Foss, Cyrus D., Bishop, promoting Methodist Chh. union in Japan (1907), 471. Fourfold Assn. Wk., (1) as a unit, 66, 67, 77, 78; in a World Conf (1878), 176-7; in Chicago, 191; (2) Assn. a pioneer in social service, 67, 78; (3) physical, personal touch, 27, 36-8, 67 ; Assn. physical dept. growth, Roberts, Gullck, and Fisher, leaders, 263-8 ; (4) educational be- ginnings. Hague, McBurney, Sin- clair, 268-70; F. B. Pratt, Geo. B, Hodge, Wm. Orr, F. P. Speare, 269 71, 290; (5) religious, specializa- tion delayed, 271 ; Bible work em- phasized, 215-17, 272; special Re- ligious Work Dept., 272-3. Fowler, Henry, Prof.. Gen. Sec. Yale Assn. (1S92-4), 339. Frazer, Donald, first Sec. of British Stud. Volunteer and Christian Move- ments, 300. Freedom of City of London conferred on Sir Geo. Williams, 245. Fries, Karl, Gen. Sec, Stockholm, and Nat'l Sec Swedish Assns. (1888), 242, 248 ; first chairman World's Stud. Christian Fedn. (1895-1907), 380, 382, 385. Fry, Wilfrid W., Gen. Sec at Trenton and Pittsburg, 296 ; member of Int. Comm., chairman of Boys' Comm. and Fry Commission, 296, 516-20. Fuller, Newton, Connecticut corre- sponding member of Int. Comm. (1872), 85. Pulton, A. A., missionary. Canton, China (1907), 466. Galley, Robert, Int. For. Sec, Tien- tsin and Peking, 379, 476. Gardner, Geo. S., friend of Lumber- men's Industrial Assn. Work, 399. Garrett, John W., pres. Baltimore and Ohio R. R., friend of E. E. Work, 391. Gatchina Palace, Russia, Interview Empress Dowager and Grand Duke Michael, 479, 482. Gates, Cecil L., Int. Sec. in R. R. Work (1887-9), 392-3, in Field Work at South (1893), 291. , M. Edward, undergraduate ores. Rochester Univ. Assn. (1870), 63. Gaylord, Franklin, pioneer For. Assn. Sec, begins in Paris (1887), 233-6; transferred to St. Petersburg (Pet- rograd) (1899-1917), 236, 248; ex- tension of work to all cities of Rus- sia allowed, 464, 479-82. Gebhard, Gabriel, Dominie, from Wall- dorf, Baden, Heidelberg and Ut- recht, Holland Univs., New York city and Claverack, 16. Geisendorf, Sec, Paris and Marseilles Assns., France (1902), 422. Gen. Sees, or Employed Officers, Conf, N. Amer. (formed, 1871), 80-1 second meeting, Lowell (1872), 119 third meeting, Poughkeepsle, N. Y., first four days session, 119-20 ; other meetings and their influences, 120- 22 ; pamphlet reports of second and third meetings, 121-2 ; at third meet- ing, Dayton, 1874 a first guest, W. H. Smith, Sec, Manchester, Eng., Assn. on Bible Topic, 134-6, 147 ; a second guest, 1879, Chas. Fer- maud, Gen. Sec. World's Comm.^ 176 ; Conf. of 1887 on Pacific coast, 202 ; liondon Sec. Kennedy and Ber- lin Sec, Phildius, guests at Conf. 1885, 222; Topic Party's relation to Sees. Conf., 227 ; first Physical Dept. Sees, come to Conf. of 1888, 263-4 ; change of name and organiza- tion to "Employed Officers' Conf." (1903-11), 513, 515; Conf. of 1915, Asllomar, Cal., 518. Gen. Sees. Conf. European, 500. — Sees. Ins. Alliance, 496, see also Sec'l Training. Geneva Lake, Wis., Western Sec'l In- stitute, School and College, 262, 483- 6. , Switzerland, Assn. bldg., 238. Geography, Amer., father of, 3. German Amer. Assn., Nat'l Bund, 134, 137-8', 182-4, see von Schluembach. Gibraltar (1902), 421. Gilman, Daniel C., pres. Univ. of Cal. and Johns Hopkins Univ., 39. Gladstone, Thos. H., Prof. London Parent Assn., delegate to World's Conf. 1872, 105. • , Wm. E., 222. Glasgow Univ. (1887), 355; (1889), 371. Glover, John, Int. Sec. of Sec'l Bureau (1889-1917 and beyond), 260, 262. Gogebec Range, Wis., 395. Goodale, Elaine, 406. Goodenough, Arthur, 42. Goodman, Fred S., Gen. Sec. Toledo and Cleveland, 122 ; State Sec. New York, 305 ; appeal Int. Conv. 1897 Bible Sec'shlp, 217 ; Bible work with E. P. See, and Int. Bible Sec. (1901), 272; delegate at World Conf., 1913 504. Goodrich, Wm. Chauncey, (1) 52. INDEX 531 Goodrich. Wm. Chauncey, (2) 113. — — , Wm. Chauneey, (3) first Yale Assn. Gen. Sec. (1886), 338-9. trordon. Gen., his Bible among his Queen's treasures (1894), 250. Goto, Baron, Japan, host of World Stud. Conf. (1907), 470. Gould, Helen Miller, see Mrs. Flnley Shepard. Grady, Henry W.. at Int. Cony., At- lanta (1885), 199. Graham, John L., Industrial Sec. Wis- consin State Comm. (18S7), 395. Grand Central E. R. Station, N. Y E. R. Work there requested (1872), 114; rooms opened (1875), 152: B. E. Assn. bldg. (1887), 393. ——Duke Alexis Nlkolaivitch, Eussia Duke Michael of Eussia, 479. Rapids Eesolutions, passed by Conv. of 1899 at Grand Rapids, Mich., 444 ; reaffirmed by Conys.. 1901, 445, and 1904, 450-51. Grant, U. S. pres., welcomes Washing- ton Conv. 1871, 79-80 ; appoints In- dian Commission, F. R. Brunot, chairman, T. K. Cree, Sec, 137. GranTllie, Earl, appeal In House of Lords (1884), 223. "Greatest Thing In the World," ad- dress by Henry Drummond, North- fleld Conf. (1887), 355. Green, Ashbel. 6. , Wm. Henry, Prof. Princeton Seminary (1867), 49, 52. Griswold, W. E. S., Int. Comm. mem- ber, chairman Yale Assn. Graduate Comm., 340. Growth of a decade (1901-11), 428-30. Guelph, Ontario, Provincial Conv. (1873), 125, 495. Gulick, Luther H., first Int. Sec. Phy- sical Dept. (Oct., 1887), 265; in- structor at Springfield School and at Sees. Conf. (1888), 265-6, 259; Sum- mer Schools for Physical Dept. Sees., 267; our New Gymnastics (1889), the Triangle as an emblem, 266; Athletic Assn. league formed (1895), 267. Gustav, King of Sweden, as Crown Prince, 241. Gymnasium at Yale (1858), see Yale College. Superintendents, 265. Gymnastics, New, by Luther Gulick, at Int. Conv. of 1889, 266. Hadley, Arthur T., pres. Yale Univ., 14. , Jas. H., Prof, at Yale (1858-62), 46. Hague, John R., Int. Field Dept. Sec. (1888), promoter Educational Work, 268-9 Hall, Geo. A., Gen. Sec, Washington, D. C, delegate Int. Con. (1870), 76, 118 ; "Discoverer of Sees.," 76, 140 ; Int. visitor at South, 112, 137-8; State Sec'l leader, 150, 305, 328; presents State Work at World's Conf. (1881), 219. , Gordon, one of first five Amer. for. missionaries, 9. , John. Dr., at laying cornerstone "old 23rd St. bldg." (1868), 59 ; con- tributor to Assn. Monthly, 63 ; wel- comes Moody and his work, 158. "" a'912), ?09-Jf ^''- '"'^'^° °«P'- ■^''^Mc^^f ?.^I^^^^' World Conf. l''r?Vl9l'lt5b3.'°'- '--'g-"°" Hamilton, Alex., offers service as at- torney, 4. Hampton Institute, 408. "7l8'82)"''332*^"' ^'^^ ^''®®" '^^'^ ■*^^^"' Handbook, Assn., reported to Int. Conv. of 1883, 292-3. Hankow, China (1907), 475 Hanover College Y. M. C. A. at Int. Conv. (1872), 95. "Happy Christian, The," 29. Harbin, Siberia, visited (1907), 477. Hardie, Joseph, pres. Int. Convs. Rich- mond (1875), 140; Atlanta (1885), 198; Mobile (1897); at Conv. 387^ secures Int. Sec. for Colored Work, 160, 401-2 ; secures Int. Sec. for South, 200 ; parlor conf. financial canvass, 205 ; tribute to Chairman Brainerd (1893), 282; life-long be- nevolence, 140. Harland, Marian (Mrs. Terhune), dele- gate to Y. M. C. A. Conf. (1875), 228. Harris, Norman W., Int. Comm. mem- ber, supporter Colored Work, 403- 4. Harrlsburg, Pa., Assn. in Civil War, 129-30. Harper's Ferry Continuation School, 485-6. Harvard College Assn., formed (1886), 332-3, 411-12. Harvey, Turlington W., pres. Chicago Assn. (1876-'78), enlists younger Directors, 191 ; effective member of Int. Comm., 255-6. Haystack Prayer Meeting and Monu- ment, Wiiliamstown, Mass., and Stud. Assn. movement, 165-6, 322, 383. Hazard, Postmaster Gen., 4. Heidelberg Univ., in Baden, 16. Helbirig, H., Nat'l Assn. Sec, Germany, at Stuttgart Assn. Jubilee (1911), 184 ; at N. Amer. Assn. Jubilee (1901), 439; entertains at Barmen, World Conf. (1909), 503. Helder Dyke, Holland, 244. Hemingway, A. T., Gen. Sec. Chicago Assn., 122. 190 490. Henson, Philip S., Bible address at Int. Conv. (18S3), 216. Hibbard, Chas. V., Int. Sec. Japan, Army Assn. Work, Russo-Japanese War, and Assn. War Work in France, 311, 476. Hicks, Clarence J., Int. chief R. R.Ay/Z Sec. (1890). 394; Assoc Gen. Sec^'Tl (1901-11), 431-2; program of Jubi- lee Int. Convs. (1901 and 1904), 438, 451 ; campaign foi: Int. Comm. bldg., 459 ; Canadian Section of Int. Comm., 497 ; suggests chart of Int. Comm. reorganization, 455 ; succeeds McBurney on Delegates' Comm., World Confs., 314, 501, 503 j^^am- vides his successor, 506. *'TrJtS)l, Hleb, Louis, Int. For. Sec. In Ceylon, 379. Himalayas, India (1902), 423. Hippodrome, Moody meetings, N. Y., 18'76, work in Inquiry Eoom, and on Exec Comm., results, 154-9. 532 INDEX Historical Library, see Bowne. History of N. Amer. Assn. (1913), 510, 514. Hitchcock, Eoswell D., Prof., 49, 52 ; episcopal polity, 251-2 ; estimate Stud. Assns., 351-2. Hobbs, Bruno, loss by bis sudden death, 506. Hodge, Caspar, Prof., 49, 52. , Chas., Prof., 49, 52. , Geo. B., Int. Sec. Educational Work (1893), 270-1; first Int. Cony, exhibit (1893), 290-1; exhibit Jubi- lee Conv. (1901), 439-40; Bureau of Records (1916), 440. Hogg, Quentln, London Polytechnic Institute, 347. Holden, Edwin E., Int. corresponding member for Ehode Island (1872), 86. Holt, Henry. 44. Homes and home office of R. C. M., see R. C. M. Honolulu Assn. (1902), 423. Houghteling, Jas. L., pres. Chicago Assn. (1881-4), member Int. Comm., joins C. H. McCormick and J. V. Farwell, Jr., in conduct of Assn., 190-1, 254-8, 352. Howard, O. O., Gen. delegate to World's Conf. (1884), 221 ; tribute to Chair- man Brainerd, 282. Univ., Stud. Assn. (1869), 401. Hoyt, John Sherman, Int. Comm. mem- ber, Tice-chairman Industrial Dept., 296. Hudson Academy, Clayerack, N. Y., 16. Huntington, Joshua, Rev., Boston, 13. Hunton, Wm. A., first colored City Sec. (1888-90), and first colored Sec. Int. Comm (1890-1917), 402-3. Hurrey, Chas. D., chief Int. For. Sec. South America and Senior Stud. Sec. Home Field (1912-16), 361. Hutchins, Edgar A., Int. Comm. mem- ber (1869-75), 128. , Geographer Gen., 4. Ibuka, K., chairman of Japanese Stud. Assn. movement (1895), and vice- chairman (1897). of World's Stud. Christian Fedn., 321, 317, 382. leyasu. Napoleon of Japan, 4(i9. Illustrated Christian Weekly, The (1873-4), 109 487. Incorporation of Int. Comm., see Int. Comm. India missionaries, call from (1887), 369. Indian Commission of Pres. Grant, chairman, P. R. Brunot ; Sec, T. K. i. Cree, 130-1, 137, 153. Indians, N. Amer., ten Assns. in Tear- book (1886), 404-5; Int. Sees., C. A. Eastman, 405-9 ; Arthur Tibbetts, B. D. Hall, 409-10. Industrial Work and Dept. : In State Work, 395-6. Int. Sees., Michener, Towson. Chairmen. M. H. Dodge, J. S. Hoyt, 396-8, 451, 503. And the Clubhouse, 398-400. Influence and Relationships of Y. M. C. A., 377. Ingalls, M. E., pres. Chesapeake and Ohio R. R., 394, 399. Ingersoll, Edwin D., first Int. E. E. Sec. (1877-87), 122, 289, 391-2; be- gins Industrial Dept Work, 396 ; finds first Colored Int. Sec, 402. Initiative and Referendum, see Int. Convs. Inland Sea of Japan (1907), 468. Inquiry Room workers, in Moody and Sankey meetings, 155-6. Insurance Alliance, Sees., 496. Intercollegiate Movement, see Stud. Assns. Interior, Chicago, weekly paper, 490. Int. Assn. Bldg., see Buildings and Int. Comm. International, name and bond, 496. International Committee : All-round Sees., 288-9. Annual meeting with Sees., 194-6, 296, 306, 418, 508-9, 517. Assoc Gen. Sees, home and for. fields, Mott and Hicks, 431-34 ; Brockman, 519. Assn. Men and Young Men's Era Co., 490-2. Building, 455-61. Bureau of Records, 440. Canadian members and sections, 496- 9. Chairmanship problem, 274-81. Chairmanships: Brainerd (1867-92), 60-286; Monroe (1892-4), 287- 94; Pratt (1894-5), 275-6; Warner (1895-1910), 276-504; Marling, (1) (1910-15), 505-20, (2) (1915- 17), 505-20. City Assn. Dept., 517. Consulting Gen. Sec. for life, 519. Corresponding members, on home field, 111-2 ; on for. field, 367-8, 374. Dinner meetings begun, 195. District Sees., 461-2, 516. Gen. Sec'ship, its development : Gen. Sec. and editor (1869), 61; Gen. Sec (1872), 105-6; a successor sought (1895), 302-3; two Assocs. secured (1899-1901), 431-2; a. Canadian Nat'l Sec (1912), 499; second Gen. Sec. sought, 514 ; and secured, 517-20. Incorporated, 186-87. Leadership defined, 284, 510-11. Mactarland and Fry Commissions, 510-20. Members added, 141, 191, 256. 290. Offices, 21, 62, 253-4, 305-6, 314-15. Office Sec, 139. "Origin, Field and Work," 453-4. Parlor confs.. see Parlor Confs. Permanent Fund, 418-21. Reelected (1872), 93-5. Senior Sees, and Cabinet, 508', 517. Sub-committees, 192, 288-91, 295-6. Temporary agents, 203. Visitation at South, 112, 137-8, See also. Int. Work, Army and Navy, Colored, County Work. German- Amer., Industrial, Stud., and other Departments. International Conventions : Names, (1) Conv. Y. M. C. A.'s of U. S. and British Provinces (1854- 79), 71; (2) Conv. Y. M. C. A.'s of N. Amer. (1879-1917), 496. Buffalo (1854), its Jubilee (1904), 441-53. Troy (1859), Geo. H. Stuart, pres., 74. Chicago (1863), Geo. H. Stuart, pres., 74. Philadelphia (1865), Cephas INDEX 533 Bralnerd, pres., receives report of U. S. Cliristlan Commission Auxiliary at Harrlsburg, 130. Albany (1866), Con v. ol new de- partures, 58 ; Thane Miller, pres., 74. Detroit (1868), recommends open air meetings, 59, 60 ; falls to receiye resolution favoring Stud. Assn. Work, 64, 330. Portland (1869), Wm. E. Dodge, Jr. pres., adopts Evangelical Chh. Basis, 60 (gee Evangel- ical). Indianapolis (1870), John S. Mac- lean, 1st (Canadian pres., wel- comes Coll. Assn., 64, 330 ; R. C. M.'a first Int. Conv., 73; be- ginning of many friendships, 73- Washington (1871), John Wana- malier, pres., Sec'l delegates form Gen. Sees. Conf., 80-1. Lowell (1872), Thane Miller, pres.. Int. Com., reelected, 93-4 ; two undergraduate college dele- gates present ; Bishop W. R. Lambuth and the first Int. Stud. Sec, L. D. Wishard, 95, 119, 161. Poughljeepsie (1873), H. Kirke Porter, pres., two phases of State Work discussed, 115-8 ; Bible and R. R. Work presented, 118 ; Sec'l delegates begin four- days' session of Sees. Confs., 118-20. Dayton (1874), Frank D. Taylor, pres.. Railroad and Ger. Amer. Assns. and Int. parlor confs. approved, 134 (see von Schluem- bach) ; financial crisis Int. Comm., Dayton Assn. secures Sec. of first rank ; Bible mes- sage of British guest, 133-6. Richmond (1875), Major Jos. Hardie, pres., fellowship with South strengthened ; colored Assns. prayed for ; first Int. Conv. Stud, topic ; solvency of Int. Com. justifies larger staff, 141-5. Toronto (1876), Russell Sturgis, Jr., pres., centennial year Conv. ; George Williams our guest with Bible class message ; comm. on permanent organiza- tion becomes elective ; Int. Sec. for Colored Work authorized and money needed secured, 159- 61, 402-4. ^ _ Louisville (1877), J. V. Farwell, pres., Conv. becomes biennial in response to appeal from Mc- Burney, 170 ; Int. intercollegi- ate work and Sec. authorized, 164-5, 331. , ^ Baltimore (1879), D. L. Moody, pres., impressive evangelistic messages from Moody, and his preliminary appeal to Sees. Conf. ; Int. work benefited dur- ing this first biennial interval ; fourteen parlor confs. held ; progress of intercollegiate work, 179, 331-2. ^ ^^^ ^ Cleveland (1881), John L. Wheat, pres., incorporation of Int. Comm. authorized. 182 ; (Jer. Amer. Work growing, 183 ; Physical Work for first time presented, 264. Milwaukee (1883), Charles L. Colby, pres.. Int. Comm. incor- poration accepted ; Int. Work defined; Sec'l Training Schools authorized, 186-92. Atlanta (1885), Joseph Hardie, pres., spiritual Bible message from Bishop Baldwin; revival in Atlanta; Sec. Phildlus from Berlin a guest ; Bowne' Histl. Library received, 198-201. San Francisco (1887), S. H. Blake, pres., growth of Int. Work, fourteen supplemental helpers report, 204 ; Assn. Work on Pa- cific coast promoted, 201-2. Philadelphia (1889), H. B. Cham- berlin, pres.. For. Assn. Work by Int. Sees, authorized, 373-4 ; representation of branches of Assns. reaffirmed, 253. Kansas City (1891), Thos. S. Mc- Pheeters, pres., plan and polity of Int. For. Work., as framed by Int. Comm., discussed and adopted, 375-6. Indianapolis (1893), G. N. Bierce, pres.. Int. Comm. Chairman Monroe presents his first and only report, including the first Assn. exhibit received by an Int. Conv. ; Weidensall becomes an honorary volunteer Int. Sec. for life, 291-3. Springfield, Mass. (1895), H. M. Moore, pres., Assn. Athletic League authorized, 267 ; per- manent Int. Comm. fund advo- cated, 418. Mobile, Joseph Hardie (1897), pres.. Int. Bible Work Sec. pro- vided for, 217, 272. Grand Rapids (1899), Edwin L. Shuey, pres., Army and Navy Work authorized, 310-11 ; per- manent fund authorized, 419 ; Boston chosen for Jubilee Conv., 435-6 ; "Grand Rapids Resolu- tions" adopted, 444 ; Int. Comm. authorized to publish Assn. Men, 491-2. Jubilee Year (1901), held at Mon- treal and Boston, Wm. B.Dodge, pres. ; Howard Williams, hon. pres. ; elaborate Jubilee pro- gram, 435-40. Jubilee, Buffalo (1904), Henry B. Macfarland, pres., some Jubilee commemorative features, 442 ; chiefly a controversial discus- sion, 441-55 ; Summer School at Silver Bay authorized, 484 ; Canadian section of Int. Comm. approved, 497. Washington, D. C. (1907), Selden P. Spencer, pres. Toronto (1910), E. B. Wood, pres. Cincinnati (1913), Ira Landrith, pres. Action by these last three Convs. upon Int. Dist. Sees., Int. and State Comm. relation, 461 ; Evangelical Chh. Basis, 462 ; in- itiative and referendum, 463 ; reorganization of both Int. Comm. and Conv. as recom- mended chiefly by Macfarland commission of Int. Comm., 510-12. 534 INDEX Cleveland (1916), N. W. Ayer, pres., further reorganization of Int. Comm. and Conv. as pro- posed by the Fry Commission, 434. 450, 515-20. Topics during period 1871-1900, 214- 17. Int. and State Work Kelations, 128, 443-55, 461-2, 511. International Work : Home — pamphlets of 1874 and 1904, 131-3, 453-4 ; defined In 1883, 187- 8 ; effect of Civil, Spanish and World Wars, 74, 309-13, 515-6, 520-1 ; progress, 428-31 ; financial support and limitation (see finan- cial, and State Work), 441-55. Foreign — forerunners in Asia, 352, 366, and in Europe, 233-4 ; calls from field and beginning of For. Assn. Work, 365-9; 1st and 2nd World Tours, 369-71, 301, 379- 81 ; progress, 433-4, 474, 515. Int. Y. M. C. A. College, see Spring- field. Inter-Seminary Alliance, 372. Ishii, J., Okayama Orphanage, 470-1. Jaffna, Coll. Ceylon, T. M. C. A., 352. Japan, progress of Assn. work, 366-8, 370, 374-5, 433, 465-70. Jarley's Wax Works, 149. Jenkins, Edward C, 423. . , I. G., 121. Jennings, Wm. K., veteran Int. Conv. delegate, 76, 139, 217, 437. Jerusalem (1892), 278. Jesup, Morris K., vice-pres. and pres. N. Y. City Assn., 60 ; Int. Comm. member and supporter, 141, 206 ; promoter of Moody's work in N. Y. and San Francisco, 158-9, 179-80, 430; helper of Y. M. C. A. 227; Amer. vice-pres. of London Jubilee Conf. (1894), 245-6; leading pro- moter of E. E. Work, 391. Jeypore, India, visited (1902), 422. Jhansi, India (1902), 423. Johnson, Herrick, 97, 215. Johnston, Geo. D., 402. , Henry P., 45. Jones, John Sparhawk, 50. , Paul, 27. Journalism, E. C. M. connection with (1867-71), 52, 83. Jubilee Assn., exhibit (1901), 439-40. Jubilees of Assn., four described, 435. — — , Diamond (1907), see Evangl. Al- liance. Judd, Albert F., 43, 321. Judson, Adoniram, one of first five Amer. for. missionaries, 9. JungUngs Tereins of Germany. 103 ; supplemented by Amer. type (1883), 184. Kaighn, B. P., Int. Senior Sec. of Seel. Bureau, 262. Kaiser, German (1901), 439. Kansas Comm., Conf. with, 377. — ■ — Missy. Movement in Soudan, 376-7. Kedgaon, India (1902), 422. Kenllworth Castle (1867), 53. Kennaway, Sir John, 220, 223. Kennedy, E. J., see London Assn., 200, 317. Kent, James, 4. Keswick Conf., 300. Kingman, Abner, vice-chairman Int. Comm., 499. Kinnaird, Lord, 439. Kitchel Cornelius L., 41. Klug, Christian (1) German delegate World Confs. (1872, 1875), 105 146 ; German member World's Comm. (1878), 176. , Christian (2), German member World's Comm. and delegate to Int. Jubilee Conv. (1901), 438. Knight, Fredk. I., 45. Enudsen, State Sec, lumbermen's In- dustrial work, Wis., 395. Kohlapur, India (1902), 422. Korea visited (1907), 465, 482. Koska Okodaklcye, Sioux Indian Assns. (1885), 404. Krummacber, K., German delegate World Conf. (1872), 105. Kyoto, Japan, ground broken for first Assn. building (1907), 470. Lahore, India (1902), 423. Lake (jeneva Cont., see Geneva Lake. Lake, John, local Sec. Edgefield, S. C, first State County Sec, Kentucky, 415. Lambuth, W. E., Bishop, 96. Lampe, .Joseph J., 54, 213. Lampson, Wm., 42. Langdon, W. C., 400. Laymen In authority and control ; Sees, and laymen in leadership of Assn., 70, 261, 448-9, 503. Laymen's Missionary Movement, a fore- runner of, 277. — — , Dinner Meeting, Shanghai, 474. Leadville visited (1902), 424. Lee, Wm. F., treas. Int. Comm. (1866- 71), 60, 61 ; visitor at South (1870), 112 ; delegate to World's Conf., Hamburg 01875), 146. Lelmkueller, Wis. State Sec among Lumbermen (1886), 395. Lewis, Eobert E., Int. For. Sec, Shang- hai, 379 ; Metropolitan Sec, Cleve- land, Ohio, 513, 515. , Wm. B., State Sec, Wis., 122, 39&. Leyden Univ. (1889), 371. Library, Historical, see Bowne. Lincoln, Abraham, 32, 34, 402. Lind, Jenny, 250. I Liulevltch, Gen. Eussia (1907), 479. Livingston, William, 4. Local Assn., Primacy of, 205, 440-55. Assn. Work, 67-8, 251-73. London Parent Assn., 18, 23, 101-2, 146-7, 173, 218-20, 24^-9 ; Alders- gate St. Booms, 102 ; 1st Bldg. erected, 66, 430; Jubilee of, 243-9, 293 435 Polytechnic Institute, 347. Long, E. A., promoter of Industrial Assn. Work, 399. Loomis, Ellas, Professor at Yale, 46. Lords, House of (1881), 222-3. Loughridge, Chas., Yale delegate to Int. Conv. (1881), pres. Yale Assn., 335. Louisville Assn. reorganized, 125. L'Ouverture, Toussaint, 33. Lovelace, Chas. W., Int. Comm. Trus- tee and worker, 205 ; leader at the South, 402. Lowrie, Samuel T., veteran delegate of (1854 and 1904), 442. Lyman, E. Stiles, 42. INDEX 535 Lyman, Joseph, 8. Lyon, D. Wiflard, Int. For. Nat'l Sec, China, 379. Macaulay, Zachary, 5. , Lord. 6, 28. Macfarland, Henry B. F., pres. Jubilee Int. Conv. (1904), 449; commission chairman, 510-11. Maclean, John S., first Canadian pres. Int. Conv. (1870) ; Bishop of Nova Scotia Assns„ 89, 495 ; Int. Comm. member (1875), 141; Bible Topic delegate Int. Conv. (1871), 215. MacVeagh, Franklin, 44. Madras Assn., Madras missionaries ask for Assn., 369 ; organized, 370 ; vis- ited (1902), 423. Madura, India (1902), 423. Man without a country, 90. Manchuria, Army Work (1904-5), 311, 476. Manila visited (1907), 465. Mansion House, London (1881), 220; (1894), 244. Marling, Alfred E., Int. Comm. mem- ber Field Dept., 290-1 ; vice-chair- man, 295 ; delegate to World Conf. (1898), 313; Jubilee fund donor (1902), 421; Montreal Jubilee day (1901), 439; State Work Confs. (1905), 451; Int. bldg. (1906), 456; acting chairman (1908), 461; World Comm. meeting, London (1907), 475, 481 ; Canadian negotiations and nat'l organization (1906-11), 497- 9 ; Paris Jubilee World Conf. (1905), 501 ; Chairman Int. Comm., first phase (1911-17). 506-7 ; emergency service (1911-15), 507-9; Macfar- land and Fry Commissions, 510-20. Marquand, Fredk., Trustee (1869), New York Assn., 50 ; offers to erect Yale Assn. bldg., 333-4. Chapel, Yale, 334. Hall, Northfield campus, 360. Marriage of E. C. M. (1883), 196-8. Marseilles, France (Xmas, 1902), 422. Marshall, John, 2S5. Martin, Edward Sanford, 48. , Throop (1863-5), 48. Martyrs' Memorial Hall, Shanghai (1907), 471. Massey, 6erald (1901), 420. Matthey, Robert, World's Comm. mem- ber, Cfeneva, 175. Mayak, St. Petersburg, Russia, Assn., 236, 477-8. McAlpin. Chas. W., Int. Comm. mem- ber, 421. ,^ , , D. H., Int. Comm. member, chair- man County or Rural Comm., 295, 415, 421. , E. A., Mrs., Chairman Int. Comm.'s Women's Auxiliary, 417. McArthur, Robert, 158. McBurney, Robert R., N. Y. City Assn. Sec. (1865-7), first acquaintance with R. C. M., 56, 58, 60, 61 ; grow- ing intimacy as fellow workers in "old 23rd St. bldg.," and N. Y. Assn., 67-70, 83, 148, 225, 268, 272, 275, 303, 316 ; Int. and State con- vention and comm. leader, 77, 128, 134-5, 141, 160, 163, 170-1, 215, 217, 219, 227-8, 254, 265, 272, 275, 282, 287, 294, 305-8, 368, 375-8, 430 449, 489-90 ; promoter of four- fold work, 66-7, 77, 215, 217, 225, 265, 268-9, 272, 327, 501; Nestor of Sees, and Sees, conf., 80, 81, 119, 121-2, 124, 257, 272, 332; World's Conf. leader, 101. 146, 175, 219, 233, 245, 247, 249, 314, 501; called to Chicago, 257 ; trip to Palestine. 277 ; interest In For. Work, 294, 368, 375- 8 ; last sickness, 323-6 ; Tower Room, 326-8. McCllutock, John, contributor Assn. Monthly 63. McConaughy, David, City Gen. Sec, Harrisburg, Pa„ Harlem Branch, N. Y. City, and Phila., and Int. For. Sec, India, 370, 392. , Jas., City Gen. Sec, Harrisburg, Pa., 122, 189; Harlem Branch Sec. and Assoc Gen. Sec, N. Y. City, called to Chicago (1884), 257. McCook, John J., Int. Chairman R. R. Comm., 295 ; Army and Navy Comm., 310 392 MeCormlck, Cyrus H. (1), 151; Int. Parlor Conf., 129, 191. . Mrs. C. H., senior, lifelong Inter- est in Int. work, 151, 191 ; generous provision for J. R. Mott's work, 381 ; for Int. Comm.'s Jubilee Fund, 420. , Cyrus H., (2), Chicago Assn. Director, 190-1 ; Int. Comm. mem- ber and substantial supporter, 206 ; Houghteling - McCormick - Farwell agreement, 254-8, 352 ; tribute to Cephas Brainerd, 282 ; helps Colored Assn. Work, Chicago, Int. Jubilee Fund, 404, 421 ; chairman Int. Conv. Comn». Twenty-one, 445-6, 448-9 ; generous supporter N. Amer. Assn. periodical, 490-2. , Henry, Colonel, 129. , Jas., Jr., veteran in chh. and Assn. work, 128-9 ; leading helper financial crisis (1873-8), 130-^4, 139 ; Int. Comm. member, 141, 151 ; Bible Work Topic Int. Conv., 215; chairman Yale Assn. grad. comm., 335, 337, 339. , Vance C, Yale Assn. Graduate Comm. member, 335. McCosh, James, pres. Princeton Coll., encourages L. D. Wlshard to accept Int. Coll. Sec'ship, 166 ; estimate of Stud. Volunteer Movement (1887), 364. McCoy, Henry J., veteran Gen. Sec, 122; San Francisco (1880-1), 180; fund for third San Francisco bldg. (1906), 430-1, 464. McClurdy, James H., succeeds Gulick as teacher Springfield School, 267. McDowell, Wm. F., Bishop, dedication Int. Comm.'s bldg. (1908), 460. McCJlil Univ., four delegates Mt. Her- mon Conf. (1S86), 351. McKlm, Judson J., Gen. Sec. New Haven Assn. (1916-17), 342. McKlnley, President, authorizes Army and Navy Assn. work (1898), 309. McTyler, J. F., Int. Sec. Business Dept., 508. McWilllams, Daniel W., gives fund for first two Stud. Volunteer tours, 363, 372. Men, see Assn. Men. Messer, L. Wilbur, veteran Gen. Sec, 122 ; teacher Sec'l Training Center, Peoria, 111. (1881-2), 189; Chicago Gen. Sec (1888-1917), 258; Young Men's Era and Assn. Men, 490-2 ; N. Amer. paper World Conf. 536 INDEX (1898), 314; part In conv. debate (1904), 449; leads conv. action on Int. domm.'s work (1897-1916), 450 ; leader in Int. Comm.'s For. Work, 433, 450, 515. MestchaninotE, pres. ot Mayak (Assn.), St. Petersburg (1907), 477. Meter Hill, 203; Port Artliur (1907), 476. Metropolitan organization, N. Y., Pnila., Chicago, B'klyn, BuSealo, 251-3. Michener, Chas. C, Int. Stud. Sec. and first Industrial Work Sec, 397. Micliigan Univ. Assn., see Stud. Assns. Militia Tent Assn. Work, 276, 309. Millar, Wm. M., Int. Field Sec. (1889), 291 ; Army and Navy Sec. (1898- 1910), 309-10. Miller, H. Thane, pres. Int. Convs. 1866, '67, '68, '72 ; Amer. vice-pres. at Jubilee World's Conf. (1894), 56, 74-5, 245 ; presides at first parlor conf. (1874), 131-2; Int. Comm. member (1875), 141, 160; at the South (1875, '76, and '77), 203; Y. W. C. A. Conv. (1875), 168, 227- 8 ; at parlor confs., 205. , H. Thane, Mrs., leader in Wom- en's Assn. movement, 168 ; relation to Stud. Assn. Work, 228. , Ransford S., Int. For. Sec, Japan, 379. Mills, W. H.. first Sec. English Nat'l Council (1881), 220; hon. Sec. World's Comm., 242 ; guest of Jubilee Int. Conv. (1901), 439. Minneapolis Assn., fund for first Int. For. Sec (1887), 364. Minnesota Conv. (1887), 364. Steamer, 465. Miraj, India (1903), 422. Monroe, Elbert B., pres. N. Y. Assn., two terms, chairman Int. Comm., chairman comm. on Moody Hippo- drome fund (1876), 159; member Int. Comm. (1883), begins fund for San Francisco Conv. (1S87), 202; with Mrs. M., donor of Yale Assn. building (Dwight Hall) (1883-6), 237, 333-6 ; suggests first Metropoli- tan organization (N. Y., 1887), 251- 3 ; tribute to Chairman Brainerd, succeeds him as Int. Chairman, 282, 287-94 ; chairman For. Education Comm. (1887), 366-8; advocates Int. For. Work, 374 ; provides for Euro- pean Stud, visitation, 371, and Palestine trip E. C. M. and Mc- Burney (1891-2). 277; helps pro- vide Int. Comm. Jubilee Fund, 418. , Mrs., 293-4, 333-6. Montauban, France (1851), 22. Montreal Assn. (1851). 23. Directors, vote sabbatical year to veteran Sec. Budge, 426 ; in critical conf. with R. C. M., 437-8. Jubilee celebration (1901), 435-9. Moody, Dwight L., as pres. and Sec. Chicago Assn. at N. Y. State Conv. (1867), 56-7; 1st meetings with E. C. M. (1870), 72-4, 77; at New England State Convs. (1871), 78; gives Sec'l motto, 121 ; helps British Assns. (1874-5), 146, 21S; Hippo- drome meetings, N. Y. (1876), sym- pathy with E. C. M. and support of Int. Work and of N. Y. Assn., 154- 9 ; most fruitful campaign method, 177; Int. Conv. pres. (1879). re- organizer of San Francisco Assn. (1880), 177-80; and of Chicago Assn. (1877), 177-80; Bible Topic Conv. (1879), 215; chairman Evan- gelistic Comm. U. S. Christian Com- mission (1898), 310; in Stud. Work at Princeton (1876 and 1885), Yale (1878 and 1885), Oxford and Cam- bridge, England (1882), 331, 344- 5, 411 ; in Int. Stud. Bible work, en- lists Kynaston Studd., 346-8; host of Mt. Hermon (1886), and North- field (1887-99) Confs., 349-60; pro- motes Int. For. Assn. Work, 365, 367. Moody and Sankey Fund, contribution to Int. Comm. work, 156-7. Moore, Henry M., leading Mass. State Comm. member, 115 ; Int. Comm. member (1875-1905), 115; tribute to Chairman Brainerd, 282 ; dele- gate to Int. Conv. (1893), 291. , John F., Int. Comm. Senior R. E. Sec, 394-5. Moorland, James E., Int. Colored chief Sec, 401-3. Moral Soc'y at Yale (1797), 13. Morgan, J. Plerpont, treas. N. Y. Assn. (1869), 58, 60; exec comm. Moody Hippodrome meetings, 158. Morley, Samuel H., leading member London Comm., delegate World's Conf. (1881), 220. Morning Watch, message of John E. Mott, 296. Morris, Wm. H., veteran Gen. Sec, 122; at Poughkeepsie,^ N. Y. (1875), at Baltimore (1882-1917), 140; teacher of Training Center, Pough- keepsie (1881), 189. Morrow, Jas. B., Assn. Director, Hall- fax, N. S. (1872), 89, 90. Morse, Anthony, Peter, John, Jona- than, 1. • , Jedediah (1), makes use of Pen- tateuch as Justice of Peace (1805), 1-2, 24. , Jedediah (2), Yale graduate (1783), 2; father Amer. geography, 3-4; pastor (1789-1820), promoter of many church and Christian so- cieties, U. S. Indian commissioner to N. Amer. Indians, 2-11. , Jedediah, Mrs., 6, 8, 9, 11. , Oliver C, Yale graduate (1868), student and Sunday school worker in Germany, 105 ; Gen. Sec. Cleve- land Assn. and Sec. Morse family letter league, 228; Sec. N. Y. State Comm. (1886), Sec Springfield Seel. School (1887), 259. , Eebecca Finley, Bible teacher and active in Christian work, a leader In Working Girls' Clubs, N. Y., 229-30 ; an organizer Harlem Y. W. C. A., N. Y. ; chairman N. Y. State Y. W. C. A., Comm. leader in For. work Y. W. C. A., 230-32. , Eichard C. (1), Yale graduate (1812), and Andover Theo. Sem'y (1817), 12-14; begins issue of N. Y. Observer, 15-16 ; marriage, 16 ; his home Sunday school, 19 ; 50th year Yale class meeting, 39 ; belief in educational benefit of travel, 53 ; meets McBurney (1862), 57; evan- gelical alliance member, 481 ; death (186S), at Kissingen, Germany, 58. , R. C, Mrs. heredity and mar- riagCj 16 ; last illness, 21 ; death (1851), at Paris, 22. INDEX 537 Morse, Richard C. (2), birth, 18 ; school and academy, 18-30 ; Yale College, 31-46 ; vocational preparation, 47- 55 ; a teacher, 48 ; theo. stud., 49 ; journalist N. Y. Observer, 52-61 ; Assn. Monthly, 61-68 ; joins N. Y. Assn. (1867), 59; chairman of Open Air comm., 69 ; early Assn. friend- ships, 69, 70 ; first State Conv., 72 ; first and second Int. Convs. (1870), (1871), 73-80: physical breakdown avoided, 82 ; first Sees. Conf., 81 ; resigns as editor, Sl-2 ; visiting Sec, 83-92 ; report of 1872, 93-4 ; Euro- pean tour, 96-100 ; World Conf., (1872), 101-5; Int. Gen. Sec'ship accepted, 105-8 ; correspondence and pamphlets. 110 ; first Year Books (1873-4), 123, 137; first Assn. visit to Yale (1874), 142; with Moody in N. Y. C. meetings, 154-9 ; mar- riage, home and home office, 196-8, 314-19 ; connection with presbytery and chh., 213 ; family letter league, 228 ; Rebecca P. Morse, 229-32 ; trip to Palestine, 277-81 ; 25th anni- versary, 298 ; talks with Mott and McBurney, 300-8 ; varied activities, 319-23 ; permanent fund and first world tour, 418-24 ; 40th anniver- sary, 463 ; second world journey, 464-82 ; summer schools, 483-7 ; per- iodicals, 487-94 ; resignation of 1912 declined, accepted, 509, 514, 518, 519 ; consulting Gen. Sec. for life, 521. , R. C, Mrs., marriage, home-life, chh. for. work, 196-8, 306, 315-7, 324-5, 464, 467, 473 ; tourist experi- ences, 222-3, 281, 464; Bible Topic Party, 225-7 ; friendships, 293-4, 298, 324-5, 467, 473. , Samuel P. B., Yale graduate (1810), artist and Inventor of elec- tro-magnetic telegraph, 11, 20 ; wel- comes delegates to N. Y. State Conv. (1870), 79; lecture upon as in- ventor 476. , Sidney E., Yale graduate (1811), editor Boston Recorder (1816), edit- or Morse's "School Geography," in- ventor of cerography, editor and one of the founders of The N. T. Ob- server, 11, 12, 14-15, 19, 26, 53. , Sidney E., Jr., Yale graduate (1856), proprietor and publisher N. Y. Observer (1867), 53, 61. Verrauus, Int. Comm. member and editor (1871-5), 94. , William H., Yale graduate (1867). Class Sec, at 30th year meet- ing, 320. Morse's "Geography," 3, 4, 11, 12. Moscow, Russia (1907), 477, 482. Motley, J. Lothrop, 38. Mott, John B. First decade of con- nection with Association Student Work : at Cornell, a Sophomore (1885-6>, pres. Cornell Assn., 351; Mt. Hermon Conf. (1886), 353; one of four Stud. Volunteers offering to visit colleges, 363; Int. Stud. Sec. Northfleld Conf. (1888), 356-7; chairman Stud. Vol. Movement, 372- 3, 377; chief Stud. Sec. (1890), 289, 357 ; Morning Watch Message (1893), 296; presides at Stud. Vol. Convs. (1891 and '94), 378-9; Int. Gen. Sec'yship proposed (1895), 300- 4 ; becomes Int. Assoc. Gen. Sec. (1901-11), 431-2; suggests program Jubilee Conv. (1901), 43S; efEective speech Jubliee Int. Conv. (1904), 449; Int. Comm. bldg., 455; aids Canadian Nat'l organization (1906- '17), 497-503; at Jubilee World Conf., London (1894), 244, 248-9. Period of special service to World's Student Christian Federation : first world tour (1895-7), 300-302; World's Stud. Christian Fed'n Confs., Williamstown (1897), 322, 382-3; Eisenach (1898), Versailles (1900), Sore, Denmark (1902), Zeist, Hol- land (1905), Tokyo, Japan (1907), 384-5 ; Australasian IPed'n. Tour (1903), 423-6 ; South African Tour, 428; Pacific Tour for Ped'n and For. Assn. Work (1907), 464-71. Third decade of Association and world service: chairman (1910), of Edinburgh Decennial For. Missy. Conf. and of its Continuation Comm., 503 473; calls and presides (1914) at Negro Stud. Christian Conv., At- lanta, 404 ; becomes Gen. Sec. Int. Comm. (1915), 388, 506-20; reli- gious work emphasized (1916), 273; becomes also Gen. Sec. Nat'l War Work Council (1917), 311. Mt. Blanc ascent (1872), 99-100. Mt. Etna (1902), 422. Mt. Hermon Conf., see Stud. Confs. Mt. Hermon School founded, 346. Mt. Vernon, 4. Muhlenburg, Wm., Moody Hippodrome meetings, 158. Mukden, Manchuria (1907), 476, 482. Munford, Wm. P., veteran Assn. leader at South, 125; at Int. Conv. (1874), 135. Munhall, Lea W., Indiana State Sec. (1875), 150, 199. Munn, John P., chairman Int. B. B. Comm., 295. Murray, Wm. D., Int. Comm. member (1891), on college work; on other service committees twenty-four years (1917) 295; vice-chairman (1912) for Int. For. Work, 433. Myers, Geo., Depot Master (1872) in Cleveland R. R. Work, 112. Myoshi, Justice, Japan (1885), guest in New York City, 317. Nagasaki, Japan, (1907), 471. Napier's "Peninsular War," 28. Napoleon I, history of, 28. , Louis, 23. Nast, Wm., German-Amer. Work (1875), 142. Nathan, missionary Tangier (1902), 421. National Academy of Design, 11 ; (1870), 327. , Assn. Sec. of France (1901), 439. Board of Y. W. C. A., see Y. W. C. A. '- Canadian Conv. and constitution, Winnipeg (1912), 497-9 ; meeting of 1914 postponed, 515. Comm. Germany, chairman at Jubilee Conv. (1901), 438. Conf., Chinese, at Shanghai (1907), 466. Council, English, suggested World Conf. (1881), 220; its Geo. Williams bldg., 481. 538 INDEX National Federal Council of Chhs. in China, proposed (1907), 473. Sees. (Orient) in council (1907), 468. Sw'edlsli Alliance, pres. at World's Jubilee Conf. (1905), 502. War Work Council (1917), 516, 520, see also U. S. Christian Com- mission. Women's Stud. Movements ad- mitted to World's Stud. Christian Fed'n, 469. Navy Work, see Army and Navy. Negro Assn., see Colored. Negro Christian Stud. Conv. at Atlanta (1914), 404. "Negro Life at the South," by Int. Stud. Sec. Weatherford (1910), 403. Nepean, Sir Evan, Gov. Bombay (1814), 10. Newell, Samuel, one of first five Amer. for. missionaries (1S14), 9, 10. New England Assns. in 1872, 87-8. New Gymnastics by Luther Gulick at Int. Conv. (185«), 266. New Haven Assn. (1917), 343. New Orleans (1906), 464. New Eoxbury, Mass., 1. N. Y. City Assn., 20, 21, 23, 411. See also E. R. McBurney and Wm. E. Dodge, Jr. N. Y. Central Federation of E. E. N. Y. Central E. E. Terminal, 456. See also Grand Central Station. N. Y. Evening Mail, 487. N. Y. Ledger, 28. N. Y. Observer, see Observer. N. Zealand (1903), 423. Niagara Bible Conf., see Bible Work. Nikko, Japan (1907), 469. Nikolalvitch, Alexis, Grand Duke (1907), 478. Ninde, Henry S., veteran Gen. Sec, 121 ; Int. Office Sec, an editor of "The Hand Book" (1893), 293. Niwa, first Japanese Gen. Sec, 317. Northeastern College, Boston Bduc. Sec, Prank P. Speare, pres. (1917), 271. Northfleld Gen. Confs., called by D. L. Moody, 346. Seminary founded, 346. Stud. Confs. of '87, '88, '95, '97, 355-60, 365-8, 303, 321, 483 ; for delegates, 371 ; athletics, 357-8. Northrup, Cyrus D., professor at Yale (1879), 332. Nott, Sam'l, one of the first five Amer. for. missionaries, 9. Nova Scotia Assns. (1872), 89, 90. Ober-Ammergau Passion Play (1900 and 1910), 500. Ober, Chas. K., veteran Sec, 122 ; Williams Coll. graduate (1882), as- sistant Sec. N. Y. Assn. and State Sec, Mass. (1883), 171-2, 332; Int. Stud. Sec. ( 1884) , 171 ; called to Osaka (1885), 366; promotes Mt. Hermon Stud. Conf. (1886) and succeeding Northfleld Confs., 345-63 ; induces J. E. Mott to become a fellow-Stud. Sec (1888), 356-7;. promotes Stud. Volunteer Movement, 372-8 ; chief Int. Stud. Sec (1888-90), 356, 369; Int. Field Sec (1890), builds up Field Dept. South, West, East 289- 91 ; finds and calls first Int. Indian Dept. Sec, 405-6 ; also Int. Field Debt. Sec, Bruno Hobbs, 506-7 ; as "Discoverer of Sees." builds up Fel- lowship Plan, joins staff of Int. Sec'l Bureau, fosters Summer Train- ing Schools, enlists Paul Super as an associate, 262-3, 485. Ober, Prank W., veteran Sec, 122 ; Gen. Sec, Albany, N. Y., and Omaha, Neb., editor of Men and Assn. Men, 490-1 ; Int. Sec. and editor, 492-3. Oberlin Univ., 359, 402. Observer, N. Y., and its founders, 15, 16 ; its assistant editor, 52-61. Okayama Orphanage, Japan (1907), 470. Okuma, Count, a host of World Stud. Federation Conf. at Tokyo (1907), 470. Olandt, Claus, Int. German speaking Sec, 185. O'Nell, Letitia G., see Mrs. Darlington. Ontario, Canadian province of, its Staff of Assn. Gen. Sees, in 1873, 495. Oostersund, Sweden (1888), 240. Orr, Robert A., veteran Gen. Sec, 121 ; leader in See. Conf., 124 ; as Bible teacher and worker, 135 ; Bible work paper at World's Conf. (1878), 174; and Int. Conv. (1877), 216; an es- sential member of the Bible Topic Party (1876-91), 224-6; advocate of For. Assn. Work, 365-6. , William, Int. Educational Sec. (1916), 271. Osaka Assn. bldg. fund secured, 366 ; visited by Monroe, Swift, and Wish- ard, 237, 366. Oscar Bernadotte, Prince of Sweden, delegate at Jubilee World's Conf., London (1894), 248; host of World's Stud. Fed'n delegates at Vadstena (1895), 300; member of World's Comm. and delegate to Jubilee World Conf. Paris, 1905, 501. , King of Sweden, invites to Stock- holm World Conf. (1888), 239. Osgood, Lucy, 2. Outreach of Stud. Work and whole Assn. movement into non-Christian lands, 362-89. Oxford Univ., England, entertains World Stud. Christian Fed'n Conf. (1911), 871. Pacific Grove Stud. Conf. (1906), 464. Pagopago visited (1907), 423. Paine, Silas H., host of early Silver Bay Confs. and generous promoter of Eastern Sec'l continuation school, 483-4. Palestine visited (1892), 277-81. Panama Canal zone, Assn. work during building of Canal, 508. Paotingfu, China (1907), 476. Paris Assn. bldg. (1894), 250. Basis, see Basis and Evangelical. Univ. (1889), 371. Park, Edwards A., 30, 52. Park St. Chh., Boston, 5, 8. Parker, Thos. P., and Lewis, promoters of Industrial Assn. Work, 399. Parlor Confs., Harrisburg (1874 and '75), 128-133, 138-9; Fort Wayne, Ind. (1876), 139; Baltimore (1875) 151; Chicago (1876), 151. 191. 255 21 held (1877-81), 179, 204-5, 255. succeeded by dinner meetings, 207. INDEX 539 Parsons, Chief Justice, 8. , Henry M., 7. Passion Play, Ober-Ammergau (1900 and 1910), 500. Patton, Francis L., Int. Conv. Bible Topic (1889), 217. Peak, Sarah, 1. Pearson, Bliphalet, 5. Peking, siege of, 311. ■ Univ. Assn., 352. PennsylTania E. E. Terminal, Phila., 393. Periodicals of Int. Conv., Quarterly and Assn. Monthly, Watchman, Young Men's Bra, Men, and Assn. Men, 487-94. Perkins, Geo. W., Int. Comm. member, donor to Eace Relationship Fund, 403. Permanent Fund, see Int. Comm. Perrot, Max, veteran World Conf. dele- gate, Geneva, Switz'd, 105, 238. Peterhof Palace, Russia, Interview with Czar, 477-9, 482. Petersburg (or Petrograd), Russia, 464, 475, 477-80. 482. Pettee, J. A., Okayama orphanage (1907), 470. Phelps, Austin, professor Andover Theo. Sem'y, 30, 52. , Wm. Lyon, Yale graduate (1887) ; Gen. Sec. Tale Assn. (1887- S) 339 Philadelphlan Soc, Princeton, 161-3, 329 Phildl'us, Christian, Gen. Sec. Berlin Christlicher Verein Junger Manner (1883-96) welcomes World Conf., (1884), 221; at Int. Conv. (1885), 200 ; at World Comm. Plenar meet- ing, Geneva (1886), 237-8; second Gen. Sec. World Comm. (1896), 248 ; at World Conf. Basle (1898), 313, 438 ; at Int. Jubilee Conv., Boston (1901), 238-9; at World Comm. Plenar meeting, London (1907), 481; and Vienna (1911), 503. Philip, John W., Admiral, Int. Comm. member (1898), presides at Army and Navy Session Int. Cpnv. (1&«9), 310-311. Philippines (1907), 465, 482. Phillips, Wendell, 33. Physical Work, see Fourfold Work. Pictou, Nova Scotia (1872), 89. Pierce, Lyman, Gen. Sec, Washington, D. C, Australasia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, 427. Pine Ridge Indian Agency, 406. Pioneer in Christian social service, 78. Piquet, Paul, Geneva, Switz'd. member World's Comm. (1878), 175. Piatt, Edmund P., pres. Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Assn., 139 ; chairman IC Y. State Comm^ 305. Playground Movement and military training promoted by Assn. Physi- cal Dept, 268. Politeness, Chesterfield on, 3. Polity of Y. M. C. A., metropolitan organization formed, new agency of supervision, 251-2 ; Int. and State Work relations defined, 441, 443-55 ; Canadian Nat'l organization formed, 497-500. Polk, Jas. K., nominated for presidency of U. S. (1844), 18. Polytechnic Institute, London (1885), 347. Pomona College, Cal., founder of, 42. Pond, Moses W., Amer. delegate from Boston to World Conf. (1872). 102. Poona, India (1903), 422. Port Arthur, Manchuria (1907), 476. Porter, David R., graduate Bowdoin College, Rhodes Scholar, Oxford Int. Comm. Sec. Boys' Work, Senior Stud. Sec. (1915), 361. , H. Kirke, pres. Pittsburgh Assn. (1870), chairman Business Comm. Int. Conv. (1870), 75; chairman Penn. State Comm. and pres. Int. Conv. (1873), 128; Int. Comm. member (1875-1917), 141; tribute to Chairman Brainerd, 282. , Noah H., professor at Yale (1858-62), 46, 52; pres., favorable to Stud. Assn. Work (1875), 142; and to Yale Assn. bldg., 333. Portland, Oregon, Assn., Harry W. Stone, Gen. Sec. (1907), 464-5. Test of active membership, see Evangelical. Potter, Henry C, favors Moody and Sankey meetings (1876), 158. Pourtales, Count Jacques, pres. Paris, France, Assn. (1907), 477. Prague Univ., Austria (1889), 371. Pratt, Charles, founder of Pratt In- stitute, B'klyn (188'r), interested in Assn. Educational Work (1890-1), 268-9. , Charles M., Int. Comm. trustee, contributing Jubilee Permanent fund (1902), 421. , Frederic B., Int. Comm. mem- ber, chairman Educational Comm., 269 290 ; secures Sec. of Dept. 270 ; chairman Physical Dept., 290 ; of Athletic League (1895), 267; tem- porary Int. chairman (1894-5), 290- 6 ; contributor to Jubilee Permanent fund, 421. , George D., Int. Comm. member, chairman Physical Dept. Comm. and Athletic League, 296. Pratt Institute, Brooklyn. 268. Prayer meeting dally, 23rd St. bldg. (1870-1), 68; Int. Comm. office, 318- 19. Prentiss, Elizabeth, contributor to Assn. Monthly 63, 68'. Presbytery, N. Y. Third, New School, R. C. M. licensed and ordained, 51. Presbyterian For. Miss'y Board, L. D. Wishard's connection with, 300, 382. Prescott, Wm. H., historian, 38. Presidents of U. S., attitude to Assn., 80. Press, Assn., see Assn. Press. Prime, S. Ireneus, senior editor N. T. Oiserver (1867-69), 53, 54, 56, 62. , E. D. G., assoc. editor N. Y. Ob- server (1867-69), 53. Prince of Wales (Edward VII) Thanksgiving Day, 90. Princeton Coll. and Univ., 11. , Assn., see Stud. Assns. Philadelphlan See, becomes a Stud. Assn., 161-2, 329. Revival (1876), 161, 345. Stud. For. Miss'y Soc, 362. Theological Seminary, 49. Problem of Int. Comm. Chairmanship (1891-5), 274-99. — - Gen. Sec'ship (1895-1915), 300- 4 ; two Assoc. Sees., 431-2 ; second Gen. Sec, 514, 517-20. Proctor, Governor Vermont, supporter Industrial Assn, Work, 399, 540 INDEX Provincial Convs., merge into Cana- dian Nat'l organ., 498. See also Int. and State. Publication 0ept., see Assn. Press, 273. Puritan meeting-house, 63. Putterill, Jolin H., Sec. London, Eng- land, Assn., 817 ; at Jubilee Int. Conv. (1901), 439. Pyne, Moses Taylor, Int. Comm. mem- ber, 192. Pyramids, Egypt (1892), 278. Quarterly, published by Int. Comm. (1866-69), 60, 487. Qninslgamond Lake, Mass. (1860), 37. Race Eelationship Fund, to promote Negro Assn. Work, 403-4. Railroad bldgs., see Buildings. Confs., first two (1877, '79), 391-2. Railroad Work : At Int. Convs. (1873), 118; (1874), 135; (1875), 141. Begun, 112-5. Bldgs., 393, 458. Compared with Clubhouse, 398-400. Expansion, Confs., membership cam- paign, 391-5. In N. Y. City (1875), 151-3, 390. In World War, 312. Int. Conv. (1904), 451. Int. Sec, 391. Sees., 392-4, 506. Ramabai, Pundita, India (1902), 422. Ramsay, David, historian, 4. Randolph and Macon College, at Mt. Hermon Conf. (1886), 351. , Joseph F., 44. Rea, Samuel, pres. Penn. R. R., 399. Reasons, True, 5. Recorder, Boston, 5, 11, 14-16. Records, Bureau of, Int. Comm. (1916), 440. Red Cross, $100,000,000 fund, 430. Red Sea (1902), 422. Reed, David Allen, founder Springfield School, 258. Referendum and Initiative, Int. Conv. (1910), 463. Relationships, local and supervisory agencies, Int. and State supervision, 251-3, 443-59 ; supervision with and without authority, 252 ; laymen and employed officers, 70, 261, 448, 449, 503 ; Chh. and Assn., denominational and interdenominat 1, 211-15^ 501- 2 ; City and Stud. Assns., 193, 213, 330-1, 342-3, 371-2. Religious Assn. Work, see Fourfold Work. journalism attempted, 54. Remington, R. K., Int. Comm. member (1874), 115, 172. Renevier, Prof., 105. Reorganization of Int. Conv. and Comm. (1913 and 1916), 511-20. Resignations, of R. C. M. as editor, 81-3; as Gen. Sec, 509, 514, 518- 19 ; of Cephas Brainerd as chair- man, 274, 281-7; of L. D. Wishard, 380 ; of C. J. Hicks, 434. Reunion Presbyterian Old and New School, 52. Revival of 1858, 30, 330 ; Princeton (1876), 151, 345. Reynolds, James B., Yale graduate (1884), 300; pres. Yale Assn. (1S83- 4), worker for Yale Assn. building (1882-5), 333; on Yale graduate comm. (1883-1915), 335; visitor European univs., 371. Rhees, W. J., veteran Assn. Conv. dele- gate (1851-1901), 442. Rice, Luther, one of first five Amer. for. missionaries, 9. Rigga, Alfred L., missionary N. Amer. Indians, 405. Riley, L. W., stud, delegate Mt. Her- mon Conf. (1886), one of four of- fering to carry Stud. Volunteer mes- sage to other colleges, 363. Ripley, E. P., R. E. pres., promoter R. E. Work, 399. Ritchie, Prank T., Int. Sec. Boys' and Community Work, 416. Roberts, Albert E., Int. Senior Sec. County or Rural Work, 415. , George B^ pres. Penn. K. R., promotes E. R. Assn. bidg., Phila. (1894), 393, 399. , Peter, Int. Sec. Industrial Dept., Immigration Work, 397. — — , Robert J., Physical Dept., see "Roberts' Dumb-bell Drill," 27, 263- 4. Robinson, Edgar M., Int. Senior Sec. Boys' Work (1900-17), 413. , Stuart, presents Bible Topic Int. Conv. (1876), first donor to fund for Int. Colored Work Sec, 216, 402. Rochester Univ. Assn., see Stud. Assn. Eockefeller, John D., and John D., Jr., very substantial donors Int. Work, 206, 208 ; 25 per cent of the total million dollar fund (1901-2), 419- 20 ; 50 per cent of the San Fran- cisco earthquake-fire building fund (1906), 430. Rodgers, John, N. Y. City, 6. Rome, Italy (1872), 97, 98; (1891), 278. Romeyn, John, 6. Roosevelt, Theodore, Pres., sympathetic cooperation Army and Navy Work, 311 ; San Francisco bldg. canvass (1906), 430. Rosenwald, Julius, most substantial donor to Negro Assn. bldg. funds in thirteen cities (1906-17), 404. Rougemont, Alfred, member World's Comm., (leneva (1878), 175. Round Top, Northfleld, 359. Rouse, Ruth, Sec. (Cooperating Comm. World's Stud. Christian Fed'n, 384. Rowland, L. P., veteran librarian and Sec, Boston (1857-71), Phila., (1872-77), 56, 80. Rural Work, see County. Russo-Japanese War, Japanese Army Work, Manchuria, 311, 482. Ryde England Assn. Home (1875), Sabbath Schools, objected to, but founded (1816). 13, 14. observance, family, 19. Sage, Russell, 45S. , Russell, Mrs., vice-pres. Women's Auxiliary, 417 ; donor of Int. Comm. bldg. and other very substantial gifts, 458-60. St. Louis Assn. reorganized (1873-4), St. Paul's Cathedral, London, Jubilee World's Conf. (1894), 244. St. Petersburg (Petrograd) Assn. or Mayak (1899-1917), 236, see James Stokes and F. Gaylord. IlSfDEX 541 Salisbury, Marquis, British Premier In House of Lords (1884), 223. Sallmon, W. H., Yaie graduate (1894), Yale Assn. See. (_1894-7), 339. Samoa visited (1903), 423. Sanders, Frank K., organizer first Stud. Assn. in Asia, 352, 365. San Francisco Assn., 180-1, 202-2, 423, 430. Sankey, Ira D., becomes assoc. of D. L. Moody (1870-71), 74. Santiago, Battle, Spanish-Amer. War (1898), and World's Conf. (1898), 312-13. Sarasln, Warnery, ciiairman World's Conf. (1898), and World's Comm., Geneva (1904-11), 313. Sautter, Em., Nat'l Assn. Sec. France, delegate Int. Jubilee Conf. (1901), 439 ; World Stud. Fed'n Conf., Tokyo (1907), 477; third Gen. Sec. World's Comm. (1910), resigns vot- ing membership on World's Comm. (1911), and succeeds Col. Fermaud as Exec. Gen. Sec. World's Comm., 503-4. Sayford, Samuel M., Gen. Sec, Syra- cuse, N. T., 122 ; State Sec, Mass. (1880), 171; evangelist at Amherst and Yaie (1883), 335. Scandinavian Stud. Movement, 380. Scawfell Pikes, England (1872), 100. Schenck, Fredk. B., pres. B'klyn, N. Y., Assn. (1889-98) ; Int. Comm. treas. (1893-13) ; member of For. Work and other Comms., 288, 294. Schieftelin, Wm. Jay, Int. Comm. mem- ber, chairman Colored Work Comm., 296. School for Christian Workers, Spring- field, founded (1885), 258. Schultess, F., Swedish member World's Comm. (1878), 176. Scott, Thomas, pres. Penn. E. R. and donor to Int. E. E. Work, 391. , Walter, poems and novels, 28, 49. Scylla and Charybdis, passed through (1902), 422. ^ ^ Seaman's Friend Soc ; founder. Ward Stafford, 13. Seattle (1907), 464. Secretarial Bureau of Int. Comm. grow- ing out of correspondence (1870) 80, 111 ; partner of Sees. Conf., B Uhl as Sec'l Bureau Sec. (1876) 119-20 ; Moody's sympathy and co operation, 178 ; Work Text, 121 apprenticeship method. 189-90 ; J. T Bowne, Sec'l Sec (1883). 190; sue ceeded by John Glover (1879-1917) 260-2, 429 ; Summer Schools, Fellow ship Plan, Training Centers, 263. Secretarial Training: Sec'l Bureau be- gun (1870), 111; Gen. Sees. Assn. (1871), 80-1; Gen. Sees., Conf. of (1873), 118-23; D. L. Moody's tes- timony, 178 ; Training Schools au- thorized, 188 ; apprenticeship method, 188-9, 201; Springfield Training School, 258; Fellowship Plan, summer confs., training cen- ters, 263, 462-3; Glover, Ober, Kaighn, 262; Chicago School and Col 262 427 ; Summer Schools, 483- 7, 510, 516. Secretaries' Conf.. see Gen. Sees. See, Edwin F., 122, Metropolitan Gen. ^ec. Brooklyn, 258; Bible work leader, 272 ; Int. Conv. delegate, 437, 449. Seely, Wm. Wallace, 44, 323. Sellew", Timothy G., Int. Comm. mem- ber on Assn. Monthly, 82-3. Seoul, Korea (1907), 465. Severance, L. H., layman missionary visitor (1907), 470. Seward, Wm. H., 33. Shaftesbury, Earl, pres. London Assn. (1881, 1884), 218, 220. 223-4. Shanghai Assn. bldg., 482. Centenary Miss y Conf., 471-4. , China (1907), Nat'l Assn. Conf. 466. to St. Petersburg, Berlin and London, 475-82. Shantung, China, 466. SheatE, Lang, Gen. Sec, Cincinnati and Cleveland, Int. R. R. visiting Sec. (1875), organizes R. R. Assn. Work, N. Y. and other cities, 113, 151. Shedd, W. G. T., 30, 49. Shelton, Don. O., temporary Int. Bible Sec (1901), 273. Shepard, Mrs. Finley J., vice-pres. Woman's Auxiliary and substantial supporter of Int. Army and Navy and other work, 310, 417, 420. Sherwin, Henry A., pres. Cleveland Assn. and chairman of its E. R. Comm. (1872), 113. Shipp, Fred B., Int. E. E. Sec and Business Dept. Sec, 394 ; Exec. Gen. Sec, 497, 506, 508; on Delegates' Comm. World Conf. (1913), 504; secures Dist. Field Dept. Sees. (1913), 514, 515; serves Macfar- land and Fry Commissions, 510-12, 516-18. Ship, Sully, voyage of (1832) 20. Shipton, W. Edwin, London Assn. Sec. (1850-81), 101; at World Confs. (1872), 103-5; (1875), 146-7; (1878), 174-6; retires from office, 218 ; his critical views, 104. Short campaign fund, organized by C. S. Ward, 429, 465. Shorter Catechism, 19. Shurtletf, Glen, Gen. Sec, Cleveland, invites and leads Niagara Bible Conf. (1887), 272, 321. Siangtan, China, outpost Pres. Mission in China (1907), 476. Siberian Railway, Harbin to Moscow (1907), 477-8. Silliman, Benjamiji, 2, 3. Silver Bay Sec'l Continuation School, see Sec'l Training. Sinclair, David A., Gen. Sec, Hamil- ton, Ont. (1873), 121, Dayton (1874- 1902), 135, 270. Sioux Indian Assns., 404-5. Sisseton Indian Agency, Dakota, 405. Skinner, Thos. H., 25, 29, 49. Sleep Acct. of R. C. M. (1871-3), 82. Sloane, Thos. C, Yale graduate (1868), member Yale Corporation and Yale Assn. Graduate Comm., 338. , William, Yale graduate (1895), pres. Yale Assn. (1894-5), chairman of its Graduate Comm. (1900-15), 339-40 ; vice-chairman Int. Comm. and chairman Nat'l War Work Coun- cil (1917), 311. Smith, E. Burritt, member of Comm. of Twenty-one, leader of its minority in Int. Conv. (1904), 448. , Eugene, 36. , Fred B., Int. Comm. Religious Work Sec. (1899-1914), leader Men 542 INDEX and Religion, movement (1910-11), 273 ; In Australia and S. Africa, 427-8; Int. Conv. (1904), 450. Smith, Henry B., 49, 52. , W. Hind, Gen. Sec, Manchester, England, delegate World Conf. (1872), 104; guest of Sees. Conf. and Int. Conv. (1874), 122, 134-5; at World Confs. (1875, '78, '81), 146-7, 172; succeeds Shipton (1881), as London Sec, 218, 317. Social Service, see Fourfold Work. Sorabji family, India (1902), 422. Soro, Denmark, World Christian Stud. Ped'n meeting (1902), 384. S. Africa, visited by Int. Sees., 427-8. Southern Tours, soon after Civil War, by Wm. F. Lee, James Stokes, Geo. A. Hall, T. K. Cree, 112, 137, 144. Spanish War (1898), 309-13. Speare, Prank P., Boston Assn. Edu- cational Sec. and pres. Northeastern College, 271. Specialization Era, 288-91. Speer, Robert E., leader at North- fleld and all Stud. Confs. and Stud. Vol. Convs., 302-3, 378. Spence, A. K., a founder Michigan Univ. Assn. (1857-8), 64; at Int. Convs. (1868 and 1870), and secures resolution favoring Stud. Assns., 330. , W. W., host of Int. Comm. Par- lor Conf., Baltimore (1875), 151. Spencer, Selden P., leader majority of Comm. Twenty-one in Int. Conv. (1904), 448. Spiritual or Religious Work, 271-3. Sprague, Wm. B., 47. Springfield School and College, Int. Sees., Bowne and Gulick and State Sec, O. C. Morse become Assn. In- structors in "School for Christian Workers" (1885-7) ; Sec'l Training School separated (1890), 258-9; Summer School for Physical Dept. Sees., 266; R. C. M. a trustee, 259, 321 ; bequest of McBurney, 325 ; A. A. Stagg and Arthur Tibbetts school students, 358, 407 ; students from Australia, 427. Spurgeon, Chas., 359. Stafford, Ward, promoter of city mis- sions and Sabbath schools, 13. Stager, Henry W.. beginner of R. R. Assn. Work, 113-4,. 152. Stagg, Alonzo A., Yale graduate (1888), Yale Assn. Sec (1888-90), at Springfield School, 339, 358-9. Starr, Grosvenbr S., 45. State and Int. Relations, see Int. and State Work. State and Provincial Convs. and their work (1870-77), thirty-one State and Provincial Convs. attended by R. C. M., 72, 78, 111-2; 124-5, 128- 9; two kinds of State Work, 115-8, 138 ; comparison and conclusion, 170-71, 193-4; later phases, 275-8, 413 ; a controversy and its settle- ment, 440-55 ; an erratic tendency corrected (1889), 376; Provincial Comms. merge in Canadian Nat'l Council, 497. Steamer shaft spliced at sea, 148-9. Stebbins, Henry H., Yale graduate (1862), classmate and roommate E. C. M., 41, 49 ; lifelong friend, 196, 245, 323. Stedman, Edmund Clarence, 44. Stevens, Geo. W., pres. Chesapeake and Ohio R. R., friend of R. R. Assn. Work, 394, 399. Stewart, Geo,, Yale graduate and Yale Assn. Sec, 342. Stiles, Robert, Yale graduate and Assn. Sec, 36, 125. Stockholm Assn. (1888), 239. Stockwell, Orlin E., first R. E. Sec. Grand Central, New York (1878-82), 122, 390-1. Stoddard. Richard Henry, 43. Stokes, Anson Phelps, 24. , James, 60. , James, Jr., a friend of E. C. M. from boyhood, 24 ; director of N. Y. Assn. and member Int. Comm. (1869), 60, 61; promoter German- Amer. Work, 138 ; R. R. Work, 152 ; Y. W. C. A. Work, 227 ; Assn. Work in Europe at Paris and St. Peters- burg, 233-4 ; World Comm. member (1888). 241; a World Assn. jour- ney, 313 ; vice-pres. Jubilee Int. Conv. (1901) and promotes at- tendance upon it from fourteen countries, 438-9. Stone Hall, Northfleld, 359. Stone, Edward C, 45. , Harry W., metropolitan Gen. Sec, Portland, Oregon, 465. Storrs, Richard S., 32, 52, 196. Stowe, Calvin E., 30. Straight, Willard D., at Mukden (1907), 476. Stuart, Geo. H., chairman Int. Comm. (1860-66), and U. S. Christian Comm. (1861-5), pres. Int. Convs. (1859 and 1863), 74, 157. Studd, Kynaston, undergraduate at Cambridge Univ. (1882), 344; visit and work among N. Amer, colleges (1885-6), 300, 347-8, 317; history of "Cambridge Band," 362. Student Assns., Rochester Univ. Assn., organized (1862), its work (1870), 63-4, 330 ; Pres. Anderson at Int. Conv. (1875), 143. Wash, and Lee Univ. Assn., 64. Univ. of Va., chap- lain BroaduB (1S58), 330-1; Robert Weidensail (1S72), 93, 331. Univ. of Michigan, A. K. Spence at Int. Convs. (1868-70), 64, 330-1; women membership (1870), 167. Williams, C. K. Ober, founder, (1882), 332; at N. Eng. Coll. Conf. (1883), 335; Stud, delegates Mass. State Conv. (1870), thirteen delegates Mt. Her- mon Conf. (1886), 351; gee also Haystack Meeting. Amherst, Stud, delegates' Mass. Conv. (187()), 64; at N. Eng. Coll. Conf. (1883), 335. Hanover Coll., Ind.. at Lowell Int. Conv. (1872), L. D. Wlshard, 95, 161. Emory and Henry Coll., Va., at Lowell Int. Conv. (1872), W. R. Lambuth, 96. Yale, first Assn. visit of R. C. M. (1874). 63, 142, 163 ; visits resulting In Yale Assn., its building and Sec'shlp, 329-45, 351, 358 ; co-operation with New Haven Assn. (1916-7), 342-3. Prince- ton, Philadelphian Soc joins and promotes Stud. Assn. movement, 161-4 ; sends delegates to all N. Eng. Coll. Confs. (1883-7) ; ten dele- gates to Mt. Hermon Conf., 351. Dartmouth, at N. Eng. Coll. Conf. (1883), 335; thirteen delegates to Mt, Hermon Conf., 351. Harvard, INDEX 543 visited (1882), 332; Assn. formed (1886), 333, 412. Cornell, Mc- Glll, Toronto, Queens, at Mt. Her- mon Cont, 35. Jaffna (Ceylon), Tungcliow, Foochow, Peking (China), Osaka, Tolsyo (Japan), 352; three Assns. organized in Tokyo (1888), 370. IntercoU. movement, sug- gested by W. E. Dodge, 163-9; C. H. Dodge, chairman, 304 ; de- velopment by Int. Comm. and Sees., D. L. Moody and Confs., 343-61; relation to City Assns. as fostering group, 193, 213, 330-1. Assn Move- ment a world power, 385-9 ; 469-70 ; relation to Assn. work in World War (1914-17), 311-12; first Stud. Gen. Sees., 337 ; buildings, 333 ; Australasian Stud, and City Work, 425-6; Chinese Stud. Work and chhs., 473-4 ; Indian begun, 352, 362 ; Japanese begun, 370. , Assn. Conferences, N. Eng. 334, 344; Mt. Hermon (1886), 350-55; Stud. Volunteers, 362-5 ; Northfleld, see Northfleld ; as agency of super- vision, 353-4; Pacific coast (1906), 464. Christian Movements, Great Britain, 300, 373, 380 ; France, Netherlands and Switz'd, 314 ; Scan- dinavia, Germany, U. S. and Can- ada, Mission Lands, S. Africa, India and Ceylon, Australasia, China and Japan, 380-1, 468-70. Federation, see World's Stud. Christian Fed'n. For. Miss'y Soc. of Princeton, 362. Sees. Conf., 483. Volunteer Convs. in North Amer- ica, John E. Mott, Robert B. Speer, 302, 378-9; in Australasia (1902), 426. ^ , Volunteer Movement, first men- tion, 50-1; suggested (1886), 165; begun (1886), 362, 364-5; organized (1888), Ober, Wilder, Mott, 372-3, 379 381. Sturges, Jonathan, trustee N. Y. Assn. (1869), 60. „ , . Sturgis, Eussell, Jr., pres. Boston Assn. (1874), In Int. Comm. work, 131, 139 ; Int. Comm. member, 141, 144 ; pres. Int. Conv., 160; in Bible work, 217. Stuttgart, Germany, Assn. Jubilee (1911), 184. Suez Canal (1902), 421. Summer Schools, see Sec'l Bureau and Training. Sumner, Chas. B., 42. John Int. Comm. Immigration Sec. (1910-11), 397. ^ „ ^ Sunday schools in N. Y. and Boston (1815-16), 13, 14. Super, Paul, Int. Comm. Sec. Seel fiureau (1916), 262-3. . Superintendents, Gymnasium (1870- 85), 263-4. ^ ^^ Supervision, Assn. (1) without author- ity : valued, 285 ; conferential, 353 , defined, 443 ; Grand Rapids Resolu- tions, 444, 450-54; (2) with au- thority, 251-2; (1) and (2) com- pared, 253. c!t„4.„ Supervisory Agencies, see int., state, Provincial, Metropolitan. Supreme Court, U. S. Division, 20. Swift, J. Trumbull, a Yale graduate (1884), Gen. Sec. Orange, N. J., Assn. ; first For. Sec. Int. Comm. (1887-8), 367; in Japan, 370; se- cures fund for Tokyo Assn. bldg. (1889), 373-4. Swimming campaigns promoted, 268. Sydenham Palace, Regents Park, Lon- don (1851), 22, 23. Sydney, Australia (1902), 427. System R. R. Work, see R. E. Work. Tabernacle Church, Salem, Mass., or- dination first five Amer. for. mis- sionaries, 9-10. Taft, Wm. H., Pres., cooperates in Army and Navy Work, 311 ; offers White House in promoting For. Assn. Work, 433. Taggart, Samuel A., first Assn. State Sec. (Penn., 1871), a strong pioneer, 76, 81, 124, 396; State Work advo- cate at Int. Conv. (1873), 118-19; at World Conf. (1881), 219. Taj Mahal, India (1902), 422. Talladega Coll., founded by H. B. Brown, 402. Talleyrand, French statesman, 9. Tangier (1902), 421. Tasmania (1902), 423. Taugwalder, Peter, Swiss guide (1872), Taylor, John P., 41. , Samuel H., 26. , Wm. M., at Princeton revival, 158, 161. , W. P., Yale undergraduate, offers to go on first Stud. Volunteer tour (1886), 363. Temperance revival in Maine (1872), 87. Terhune, see Hariand. Test, see Evangelical. Thacher, Thomas, 46, 52. Thaw, Wm., an organizer of Penn. E. E. system ; substantial supporter Int. Work, helps secure T. K. Cree as Int. Comm. Sec, 154, 206; also the first Int. E. R. Sec^ 391 ; strong promoter Assn. R. E. Work, 399, 458. Theological studies, 50-52. Thomas, Henry W., Colored Assn. Sec. (1866), Charleston, S. C, 400. Thompson, Jos. P., contributor Assn. Monthly (1870), 62. Wm. H., Int. Cony. Bible Topic (1873), 118. Thorburn, Thos., pioneer Assn. Sec. among miners, Pittsburgh, Pa. (1887- 97), 396. Tibbetts, Arthur, second Int. Comm. Indian Sec, 407, 409. Tichenor, John S., Int. Comm. chief. Army and Navy Sec, 310; S. Afri- can Nat'l Sec (1912-3), 428. Tientsin, China (1907), 476. Tokyo Y. M. C. A., 384. Topic Party, see Bible Study. Toronto Univ. visited by Studd.(1886- 7), 348. Toussaint I'Ouverture, 33. Tower Room of R. R. McBurney, meet- ing Int. Comm. and Sees, begun (1882), 194-5; described, 325-8. Towson, Chas. R., Int. Comm. chief Sec Industrial Work, 397. Tract Societies, beginnings, 7, 10, 16 ; Amer„ 16 ; Religious, 6. Tracy, Roger S., 45. 544 INDEX Training Centers, see Sec'l Training. Triangle Y. M. C. A., 266. Triennial Convs., see Int. Convs. True Reasons, 5. Tsao, Chinese Gen. Sec, Shanghai, 317. Tsinan-fu, Tslngchau-fu, Tsingtao, China (1907), 466. Tungchou Coll. Y. M. C. A., China (1886), 352. Twenty-flfth Anniy. of R. C. M., 298. Twichell, Joseph, 36. Tyndall, Professor, ascent of Mt. Blanc (1872), 99. Tyng, Stephen H., laying cornerstone of "old 23rd St. bldg." (1888), 59. TJhl, ErslJine, Gen. Sec. Poughkeepsie Assn., Sec.-Treas. Gen. Sees. Assn. (1873), Int. Comm. OfiBce Sec. (1876- 1906), 120, 139-40; Sec. Sec'l Bureau, 258 ; an editor of Assn. Handbools, 292-3. Union, Chhs. in China Centenary Conf. (1907), 472-3: In Meth. Chhs., Japan, 471. North and South in U. S. Int. Conv. (1875), 144. Union Theological Seminary, N. Y. (1865-6), 49. Unitarian movement, 14 ; Conv., 51. U. S. Christian Commission and Nat'I War Worli Council in Civil War (1861-5), Wm. E. Dodge, Jr., and Geo. H. Stuart (1862, 1870), 48, 74; Harrlsburg Assn. (1861-5), 130; in Spanish War (1898), 310-11; in other wars, 311-12 ; in the World War, 515-16, 521. Upsala Univ., Sweden (1888), 240-1. Utrecht Univ., Holland, 16. Vadstena Castle, Sweden, World Stud. Christian Fed'n formed (1895), 379. Van Arsdale, W. W., Gen. Sec, Chicago, editor Watchman, 488-90. Van Cott, J. Marsden, father-in-law R. C. M., 196 ; at dinner meeting Int. Comm., 197; World's Conf. (1891), 243 ; in the family homestead, 329. , Jane Elizabeth, see Mrs. R. C. Morse. Van der Belien, Sec. Paris Assn. (1886), 234. Vanderbilt, Commodore and Wm. H., first two presidents Vanderbilt B. R. System, 152, 391. , Cornelius, Jr., third pres. Van- derbilt System, promoter Moody Hippodrome meetings (1876), 158; director N. Y. Assn. and chairman its R. B. Comm., 192, and E^jnance Comm,, 207 ; substantial supporter Int. Comm. Worlj, 206 ; delegate to Jubilee World's Conf. (1894), 245; chairman Int. Comm.'s R. R. Worlj, 289-90 ; vigilant 20 years' oversight of R. R. Work, donor of R. B. Assn. bldgs., N. Y. City, 390-3. , Wm. K., substantial supporter of B. B. Assn. Work, 152, 206. Van Dis, John A., Sec. Boys' Work, New Haven Assn. (1916), 343. Van Dyke, C. V. A., missionary, Syria, Van Oosterwijck, Bruijn, pres. Assn. Amsterdam, Holland, and World's Conf. (1872), 103-5; delegate to World's Conf. (1875), 146; Holland member World's Comm. (1878), 176. Vargas de, Louis, Spanish delegate to World's Conf. (1898) during Spanish War, 313. Vassilieff, Father, Priest of Greek Chh., delegate from St. Petersburg to Int. Jubilee Conf. (1901), 478. Versailles, France, meeting World Stud. Christian Fed'n Comm. (1900), 384. Victoria, packet ship to London (1851), 21. Vienna, World Comm. Meeting (1911), 503. Virginia Univ. Assn., see Stud. Assn. Virgo, John J., Gen. Sec. Sydney, Aus- tralia, becomes (1908) London Assn. Sec, 427. Vital bond of Assn, fellowship, 104. Volunteer agency, see Laymen. work and leadership, before Civil War (1851-61), 70; developed (1897), 261-2; later (1904), 448-9. Von BernstorflC, Andreas, Count, pres. Berlin GJiristUcher Verein Junger Manner and World's Conf. (1884), 183, 218, 221; at World's Comm. meeting, Geneva, Switz'd (1886), 237-8. Von Rothkirck, Baron, one of the founders of C. V. J. M., Berlin (1883), 183; succeeds Count von BernstorfE as pres. at Berlin, 481. Von Schluembach, Frederick, pres. of German-speaking Assn., Baltimore, and speaker Int. Conv. (1874), 134; Gen. Sec Nat'I Bund German Assns. (1874), 137; reports progress Int. Conv. (1875), 141-2; Int. Sec. for German Assn. Work (1878), resigns (1881), 182; his greater work in Germany, 184 ; his successor, 185 ; delegate to World Conf. (1884), 221. Vreeland, H. Harold, Jr., Yale gradu- ate (1912), Sec. Sheffield Dept. Assn., 342. Walldorf, Baden, Germany, 16. Wanamaker, John, Sec Phila. Assn., 1S5 ; pres. Phila. Assn. and Int. Conv. (1871), 80; supports a Gen. Sec. for Zurich, Switz'd Assn. ' (1886), 237. Wanless, Dr. W. J., medical mission- ary, Mlraj, India (1902), 422. Warburton, Geo. A., a veteran Gen. Sec, 122. Ward, Charles S., a Dartmouth gradu- ate. Gen. Sec. New Britain, Conn., and Grand Rapids, Mich., Int. Comm. Field Sec, 291 ; finance short cam- paign and building fund Sec, 429, 516. Warner, Lucien C, chairman Harlem Br. N. Y. Assn., leader on N. Y. Comm., chairman Int. Comm. (1895- 1911), 298; Australasian tour with B. C. M., 423 ; at the Montreal and Boston Jubilees (1904), 439; mem- ber of Comm. of Twenty-one (1901- 4), speaker in discussion Jubilee Conv. (1904), 446; attended 27 Confs. with State Comms. (1904-5), 449-52 ; pamphlet on Int. Comm. Work (1905), 453-5; his administra- tion reviewed, 297-98. Wars, see U. S. Cliristian Commission and World-War. Washington, George, 4, 27, 34. Watchman, Chicago Assn. bulletin. INDEX 645 recognized as periodical of Assn. movement (1875-88), 489 ; becomes Young Men's Bra (1889), 490. Watklns, B. W., Int. Comm. Sec, 122, 185. Weatherford, W. D., Int. Comm. Stud. Sec. at South, author of "Negro Life at the South" and promoter of better race relationships, 403-4. Webster, Daniel, 7. , Henry H., Princeton graduate (1876), a Sec. N. Y. Assn. (1877- 80), director N. Y. Assn., first chair- man Boys' Work Comm. (1882), 410- 11 ; first chairman Int. Comm.'s Stud. Work, 192, 289, 357, 364, 411 ; at Yale and Harvard, 411-12, 345. "We can do it If we will," words on Haystack Monument, 383. Weeks, Robert Kelley, 43. Wei Hsien, China (1907), 466. Weidensall, Robert, senior Sec. Int. Comm. (1868-1917), 290, 442; meets R. C. M. Int. Conv. (1870), 65; pioneer in field secretaryship Stud. Work from 1870, 75-6, 93-6, 143, 33() ; Western and Southern Work, 112, 121, 123, 331; at Conv. (1874), 134: with D. L. Moody, 156; af- fected by overwork (1888), 268; re- signs salary to become volunteer Int. Sec, 291-2 ; pioneer County Work, 292, 414-15. Welch, Pierce, 44. Wellington, Duke of, 23. Wemyss, Lord (1884), 223. Western Sec. Institute, see Sec. Train- ing. Westminster Abbey, London (1894), 244. Wetmore Benj., treasurer Int. Comm. (1870-92), prepares paper World Conf. (1875), 145; teacher in Chris- tian Training School, 188 ; acting chairman (1892), 287. Weyerhausser, F. E., member Int. Comm. for Industrial Work, 399. Wheeler, Robert T., colored Stud, dele- gate Int. Conv. (1875), 401. White House. Pres. Roosevelt aids In securing bldg. fund for San Fran- cisco Assn., 430 ; Pres. Taft ofEers White House for Conf. in aid of Int. Comm. For. Work, 433. White, J. Campbell, Int. Comm. For. Sec. (1893), 379. „ . ^ ^ , Wllbert W., Bible Topic Int. Conv. (1893), 217. Whitehead, C. K., director N. Y. City Assn. (1869), 60. Whitford A. H., veteran Gen. Sec. Rochester and BufCalo, 121. Wieting, P. A., Int. Comm. OfSce Sec. (1879). 253; at first annual meet- ing Int. Comm. Sees. (1882), 195. Wiggin, Fredk. H., Yale graduate (1904) treas. Yale Assn. Graduate Comm. (1915), 340. Wilkie, Thos. J., veteran Gen. Sec. Toronto (1873), trainer of Sees., 124-5, 495. Wilberforce, Wm., 5, 8. „^ ^ _ Wilcox, C. M., Sec. Conn. State Comm., Wilder, Robert P., Princeton delegate Mt. Hermon Stud. Conf. (1886), founder Stud. Vol. Movement, 362- 4; conducts first tour (1886-7), 364- 5 : helps to organize Movement (1888), 372-3; organizes British Stud. Volunteer Mlss'y Union, 373 ; Int. Comm. Senior Religious Work Sec. (1916), 273, 373, 300. i Williams, Chas. T., pres. Montreal Assn. delegate to Int. Conv. (1899) ; Convention changes Its mind, 437-8 ; averts unfortunate results, 497 ; chairman Canadian section (1907), 497. College, undergraduates at Mass. State Convs. (1869), 64; and (1882), C. K. Ober as delegate, 332 ; at first N. England Coll. Assn. Conf. (1883), 335; 1st meeting of World's Stud. Christian Fed'n (1897), 320- 1 ; Haystack prayer-meeting and Monument, 165, 820-1, 382 3. , Geo., Sir, founder parent Assn., London (1844), 18; at World's Conf. (1855), 105; at Conf. (1872), Treas. London Assn., 50 years old, first met by R. C. M., 146 ; at Int. Conv. (1876) Bible Class Topic, 216 ; gives to Colored Sec'l. fund, 402 ; welcomed, 159-60 ; at World Conf. (1881) London founds English Nat'l Council, 220 ; at Geneva, Switz'd attends World Comm. meet- ing (1886), 236-9; London Jubilee World Conf. (1894), receives knight- hood from Queen Victoria and Free- dom of City from London corpora- tion, 245 ; his farewell to Jubilee World Conf. (1905), 501-2. Replica of bust of Sir George presented to Int. Comm. by Howard Williams, 461 ; Home presented to English Nat'l Council, 481. , Helen (1886), 239. , Henry F., State Sec. Minn., rep- resents Int. Comm. in first contact with N. Amer. Indian Assn. Work (1885), 405; Int. Comm. R. R. Sec. (1887-9), 393; editor (1890-93), Young Men's Era, 490. , EToward, as representative of his father. Sir George, hon, pres. Jubi- lee Int. Conv. (1901), 439 ; donor to Int. Comm. of marble bust of Sir George (1908), 461; invites R. C. M. to his last meeting with Sir George (1905), 502. , Roger H., chairman Int. Stud. Work Comm-, 296. Williamson, J. Butter, Cor. Sec. World's Stud. Christian Fed'n Comm. Vad- stena (1895), 380; Presbyterian medical miss'y, Miraj, India (1902), 422. Willing, Henry J., leading director Chicago Assn. (1878-82), 191. Willis, Clarence B., veteran Gen. Sec. Milwaukee, 122. Wilson, Woodrow, Pres., an under- graduate at Princeton (1876), 161. Windsor Castle, England (1894), 249- 50. Winnipeg Conv., Nat'l Canadian (1912), 497-8; a constitution adopted, 498-9. Winthrop, Buchanan, 42. Wlshard, Luther D., undergraduate delegate Int. Conv. (1872) from Hanover College, Ind., 65, 95 ; at Princeton Coll. (1875-77), pres. Phlladelphian Soc. (1876), becomes Stud. Assn. (1877), 329; promotes intercollegiate movement as Stud, delegate Int. Conv. (1877), 161-4, 345 ; as graduate becomes first Int. 546 INDEX Comm. Coll. Sec. (1877), 164-6, 329; co-educational problem, 166-9 ; C. K. Ober secured as bis associate (1884), 332 ; Coll. sub-Comm. Webster and Dodge, 289 ; Stud. Bible Work, Nortbfleld (1885), 346; suggests Mt. Hermon and Nortbfleld Confs. (1886), 349-50; relation to first of these Confs., Stud. Vol. Movement, Int. Comm. For. Assn. Work, 350, 354-64; world journey (1888-92), 204, 369-79 ; enlists D. L. Moody's cooperation, 344-8, 350-1, 354-5 ; J. E. Mott, 356 ; conference superrislon, 354-5; For. Sec. Int. Comm. (1892- 97), 379 ; treas. World's Stud. Cbris- tian Fed'n. (1895), 380 ; leads a for- ward movement, Presbyterian and Congregational For. Boards (1897- 99), 380. Witberspoon, John, 6. Women as members of T. M. C. A., 166-8. Women's Auxiliary, see Int. Comm. For. Mission Board, Presbyterian, 198, 464. Miss'y Luncheon Centenary Conf., Shanghai (1907), 473. Woods, Leonard, 29. Woodstock, Conn., 1, 2, 24. Woodward, S. W., Int. Comm. member, substantial supporter, delegate to Fed'n Conf., Tokyo (1907), 470; at Shanghai Centenary Conf., 474. Woolsey, Theodore Dwigbt, pres. Yale Coll., 39, 46, 52. World Exhibitions, London (1851), 22; Paris (1867), 54; Philadelphia (1876), 159. Journeys : L. D. Wishard (1888-92), extending Assn. Work to non-Christian lands, 369-71. John R. Mott (1895-97, twenty months), promoting World Stud. Christian Fed'n and For. Assn. Work, 379-81. E. C. Morse, first tour Dec, 1902- June, 1903, eastward, Tangier and Gibraltar, 100 days In India, Australia, and New Zealand, 421- 8 ; second tour. Dec, 1906-July, 1907, westward, Japan, Korea, Manila, Hong JSong, Shanghai, Shantung, Hankow, Peking, Port Arthur, Mukden, Siberian E. E., Moscow^, St. Petersburg, Berlin, London, entering Into the labors of Junior predecessors, 464-82. Robert Weidensall (1905-6), touch- ing more countries than his three predecessors in any one of their journeys and heartening all his fellow workers, 292. Missionary Conf. (decennial), Edinburgh (1910), 503, 507, 520. Outreach of N. Amer. Assn. Work, 301-2, 362-89. War (1914-?), Nat'l War Work Council organized, and entire Assn. movement mobilized, 311-2, 388-9. World's Committee, elected (1878), 174-77; first report (1881), 219; Gen. Sec. (1878-1917), 176-7, 248, 313, 503; temporary Sec Wishard (1888-92), 369-71; biennial meetings (1886), 233-9; (1907), 475, 481; (1911), 503-4. Conferences : Paris (1855), Amer. delegate, Geo. H. Stuart, 74; W. E. Shlpton as World Conf. leader, 102 ; other early leaders, 105. Amsterdam (1872), beginning of regular attendance by McBurney and E. C. M., 101-5. Hamburg (1875), pamphlet reports Amer. Assns. in languages of Conf., 145-7. Geneva (1878), forty Amer. dele- gates, World Comm. elected with Gen. Sec, 172-77. London (1881), resulting in English Nat'l Council, 218-20. Berlin (1884), welcomed by Christ- Ucher Yerein Junger Manner, 221- 5. Stockholm (1888), Amer. Coll. Sec. L. D. Wishard becomes temporary Sec. World Comm., 241, 370 ; E. C. M. Amer. Sec. World's Comm., 242 ; Karl Fries becomes Assn. Gen. Sec, 242. Amsterdam (1891), permanent rules of Conf. adopted, 243. London Jubilee, (1894), 244-50; McBurney's last important service, 247 ; Mott receives his first wel- come, 249, 301 ; see also Sir George Williams. Basle (1898), 312-14 ; as Amer. dele- gates McBurney and Cree suc- ceeded by Mott, Marling, and Hicks, 314 ; World's Comm.'s staff Increased by Gen. Sec. Christian Phildius, 313, 438 ; relations of World Assn. and World Stud. Confs., 314, 384. Christlania (1902), and sessions of European Gen. Sees., 500. Paris, Jubilee Conf. (1905), 501-3; Basis of 1855 reaflarmed, 501-2 ; Geo. Williams' farewell, 502. Barmen-Elberfeld (1909), a third Gen Sec. added to World's Comm.'s staff, 481, 503. Edinburgh (1913), Int. Sees. Shipp, Goodman, and Fisher carry the N. Amer. message ; Charles Fermaud and R. C. M. chosen honorary Sees, for life, 504-5. Stud. Christian Fed'n and its Comm., organized (1895), 242, 300-2, 304 ; its rapid extension, 379-81; its first conference, 382- 4, 320-1 ; 10 years' membership In Fed'n Comm. (1897-'07) ; at Eise- nach (1898), 314; at Soro (1902), Zeist (1905), 384; at Nikko and Toksfo (1907), 469-70; World War, 515 ; in relation to World's Conf., 314, 384-9, 504. World Powers — defined and six named, 388-9 Wright," Henry B., Yale graduate, 1898, pres. Yale Assn. (1897-8), 320; Gen. Sec (1898-01). 340-2; in City Assn. Work, 342; Northfleld Confs., 359- 60 ; on Int. Comm. Religious Work staff, 278. Yale College and Univ., 2, 5, 31-46. For Yale Assn., see Stud. Assns. Yall in Changsha, China (1907J, 475. Yamaguchi, Japan (1907), 467-8. Yangtse River (1907), 475. Year Book (1873), 123; (1874), 137- 8; (1875). 145; (1886), 405. Yellow Sea, five crossings (1907), 465- 71. INDEX 547 Yokohama, Japan (1907), 465, 468. Young Men's Christian Assn., a lay- men's creation, see Laymen ; Home and For. Work, see Int. Work ; par- ent Assns., see London Boston, Montreal Assns. ; buildings, see Buildings ; gymnasium, see Fourfold Work ; In architecture, 62-3 ; among students, see Stud. Assns. ; College, see Sec'l Training ; approved by presidents of U. S., 80 ; "As it Is" In 1872-80, 91-2, 111 ; young men united, 203; N. Y. C. Chicago, Lon- don, Paris, Berlin St. Petersburg, San Francisco, Bergen, Buffalo, Zurich, see N. Y. City, Chicago, etc. Young Men's Era and Bra Co., 490. Young Women's Christian Association, parent Assn. Boston (1866), 227; In co-educational colleges, 166-9, 352 ; Its agencies of supervision, 453 ; in tenure of property, 457 ; partner In Stud. Volunteer Move- ment. 372; and World Stud. Chris- tian Fed'n, 384 ; at Silver Bay, 484 ; union of the two Y. W. C. A. groups, attempted, 168, protracted effort, 231, accomplished, 456-60, 453 ; Sec'l Training School. 457. Young People's Missionary Movement, 484. Zealand, New (1902), 423. Zeist, Holland, 384. Zurich, Switz'd Assn. Sec, 237-8.